


Product of Friendship

by AzuraKeres



Category: My Little Pony
Genre: Cults, Drug Use, Gen, School, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27601508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraKeres/pseuds/AzuraKeres
Summary: Chrysalis was certain that it was the time to birth a successor to the throne after capturing all of her enemies. But her reign came to a swift end and she could no longer abstain the birth when she had finally begun. Her child was born under her sole protection. No changeling army to ward off her foes, no secure hive to leave her child in with complete safety.But then she established a truce with Tirek and Cozy Glow and together they had attained the power of Grogar from the legends. Before her successor would hatch from its egg, she will attain a kingdom that is befitting of the next queen...But in the end, she failed yet again.Peace was struck amongst many creatures in Equestria and they have lived plentifully of years of harmony and happiness. But what of the egg that only Chrysalis knew of? The egg that was now orphaned due to the power of friendship.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. Motherly Choices

Chrysalis entered her chamber after cautiously ensuring that her temporary allies did not follow her. She excused herself from the discussion of their plans to usurp the lands of Equestria without addressing a reason. As if they have the right to know the constant whereabouts of a queen. Besides, Grogar’s bell was left with them; she saw no reason for them to be concerned for deceit. For now, at least.

Chrysalis’s chamber was hollow of decorations and belongings. It felt somewhat nostalgic for her old bedroom when she was young. All they stood before her was a small purple log that laid atop a large slanted rock that she has been using as a desk. Chrysalis furrowed at the ignorant log and flicked it across the room as she said, “I’m not here for you fool.”

Behind the slanted rock, there was a small hole that widened when she pulled the rock aside. Beneath where the rock once stood lied a deep hole that minimized further inside; a precaution that Chrysalis to prevent the slanted rock from falling in far enough to harm what she hid inside. 

A green glow emitted from the hole. Chrysalis grinned and used her magic to lift out an egg from out the hole. A common changeling egg would have olive pigments with stripes of darker tones of green; however, this particular one that Chrysalis caressed in her hooves was pitch-black with green stripes that radiated. Through those stripes, Chrysalis can grasp a glimpse of the larva that made subtle shuffles.

“How is my princess?” Chrysalis cooed as the green lines of the egg shone brighter. Chrysalis could feel her body getting heavy a slight as the egg hungrily sapped her of the accumulated love she collected. “You starved again, haven’t you?”

Seeing her precious youngling so desperate for nutrients made her feel bitter about the predicament she has placed her child in. There was a moment where she had liberated all of her obstacles in conquering Equestria and it seemed that the changeling race was guaranteed to thrive for centuries to come.

The moment was perfect for Chrysalis to lay a special egg that she held for years and finally welcome it to the world where it would live a life of luxury. 

But reality played a cruel trick on its mother and stripped her of everything she had earned, leaving only the two to fend for themselves. Chrysalis’s egg was welcomed to a harsh environment where Chrysalis had to be anxious about everything to ensure its safety.

The countless months of relocating home due to nearing predators and fending them off have taxed the former queen’s mind and have festered her hatred of the ponies that have humiliated her to this state. Particularly of a mare that deprived her of her entire Hive. Burdened by her anxieties and paranoia, her troubled state of mind swayed her to seek companionship from a purple log that made snide comments of her quite some months ago. But no more.

“It won’t be long now my youngling,” Chrysalis whispered to the egg. “In the coming moments, I shall regain my rightful place as queen of not only the Hive but of the entire lands of Equestria. When you finally emerge from your egg, you will be welcomed to a home befitting of a princess. However, there are other steps that need to be taken.”

Chrysalis’s horn illuminated and released a black light that streamed into the egg. Chrysalis could feel the egg rumble, but she persisted, confident that her youngling could handle the power given to it. After half a minute, she finally stopped as the green lines of the egg flickered wildly and then remained lit brighter than before.

“I knew you could handle it,” Chrysalis breathed raggedly. “With Grogar’s magic as sustenance to your growth, I’m certain that you will surpass the power of all who stands in our way. Including our two aides.”

“Chrysalis!” Chrysalis’s ears perked at Cozy’s voice. She tried to put her daughter back in its hiding place, but she lacked enough time when Cozy Glow entered her room merely seconds later. “How long are you going to keep us waiting!? We have the conquering of Equestria to do, remember!?”

Cozy paused at the sight of the egg that Chrysalis was midway from laying back in its burrow. “Did you lay an egg?” Cozy approached Chrysalis to get closer to the egg, but Chrysalis warned Cozy with a hiss.

“If you value your life, then I suggest stepping away from me.”

“Will you relax,” Cozy rolled her eyes. “I just want to look at it.”

“Then you have seen enough. Now leave.”

“You know what I meant,” Cozy appeared annoyed. “Come on Chrissy, I promise I won’t hurt it.” Cozy continued towards Chrysalis’s proximity as she held the egg defensively from Cozy. After sharing a large pool of Grogar’s magic with her child, it’s likely that she no longer bore the power to match with Cozy. Sparking a fight now may risk her demise, especially for her daughter while in the crossfire…

“If I let you touch my child,” Chrysalis started. “Do you promise to leave us alone?”

“Golly,” Cozy voiced. “I can’t believe how defensive you are of little old me. Is this how mommy Chrissy is like around her kids?”

“Do you swear to leave us alone if you get to touch my egg?” Chrysalis asked again.

“Yes, yes,” Cozy flapped her hoof. “I, Cozy Glow, do doubly swear I shall not harm your egg.”

“…”

“I swear it! Now, will you let me see the egg already!?”

It took Chrysalis a moment to hesitantly open her hooves for Cozy to see the egg clearly. Cozy looked at it in awe and commented, “Wow, it’s kind of looks menacing.”

“It’s beautiful,” Chrysalis retorted. “I wouldn’t expect a child to understand.”

“Guess it’s a matter of perspective then,” Cozy concluded as she felt her hoof upon the egg. At contact, the egg brightened and Cozy yelped as she felt it pulling her. “What’s it doing? I don’t feel right.”

Cozy tried to pull her hoof away from the egg, but there was an unknown force that kept her stuck to the egg. She had to borrow a semblance of Grogar’s magic to gain enough strength to separate herself from the egg. When she finally released herself from the egg’s grasp, she fell on her back. Cozy rasped for air before glared at Chrysalis.

“What did it just do to me,” Cozy demanded an answer.

“It would seem that my daughter took a liking to your love,” Chrysalis grinned. “I guess a thank you is in order for your contribution.”

“I don’t recall agreeing to contribute anything!” Cozy stood up but faltered a bit before regaining her balance. “Ugh, I feel heavy. How much did that thing take out of me?”

“If you’re done moping, there’s a kingdom that we need to conquer.”

“Now hold on a minute!” Cozy held up a hoof. “I think I should be compensated for what that egg took from me.”

“Compensation? What do you think I could possibly give to you? And what makes you think I would be willing?”

“I can tell that egg there is something pretty special. And since I gave my fair share of contribution, I think it’s only right that I should be its godmother, don’t ya think?”

“You, a Godmother?” Chrysalis chuckled. “Hah, you wouldn’t have what it takes to raise much less a baby pony.”

“Hey, don’t cut me short. I’m known to surprise others.”

“Fine,” Chrysalis grumbled, not wanting to stir any fight while her youngling was still in her hooves. “Just go away before the other one shows up.”

“I’m glad we had this talk,” Cozy smiled as she flew out of the room. “I feel that we’ve become much better friends, don’t you agree?”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at Cozy’s ridiculous comment and waited for the filly to leave the room. Once the filly was finally out of her sights, she laid the egg back in the hole. The egg began to flicker when it was no longer surrounded by its mother’s hooves.

“It’s okay,” Chrysalis whispered to the egg. “I won’t leave you alone for too long this time. I promise you will get everything you deserve my youngling.”

Chrysalis carefully slid the rock over the hole to ensure it doesn’t slant inside the hole. She takes one last look at her child before she conceals it under the rock again.

She takes a heavy sigh before exiting the room. She needs to focus on the matter at hoof. Her vengeance. Her birthright. Her conquest. All were now within her reach and she will attain all of it before she returns to her youngling.

* * *

It’s quiet. It’s always quiet in this darkness. Nothing for her to feel, nothing for her to hear within the pitch blackness.

She waited impatiently for that familiar warmth to return to her. She felt so hungry that she started shaking about to get out to go find it herself. But the invisible barrier that surrounded her kept her in place and so she continued listening to nothing. Until she heard a voice.

“Honestly,” she heard a voice. “I don’t see the whole point of this endeavor. We’ve already had our epic victory and our awe-inspiring finale. Why not throw an after-party rather than have me escort you to this dump?”

“The point,” she heard another voice. “Discord is for precaution of any dangerous artifacts they might have left. As the new Princess of Equestria, I need to do my best to prevent any danger from occurring before they escalate to something worse. And to do so, I need to be proactive in the possibilities that might occur.”

“Well aren’t you dedicated,” said Discord. “But going on with that mentality might make a pony paranoid. For you, I would give at least a week. It would be more fun if it were a day, but there’s nothing I can do against character development.”

“I know that I can’t stop everything from harming Equestria,” the other voice retorted. “But I should at least be able to stop any creature from obtaining whatever else those three found.”

“Well excuse my doubt, dear Princess of Equestria,” Discord said. “But if they had possibly—which I think is zilch—found another powerful usurping artifact, I’d imagine they would have used it already.”

“Are you going to keep complaining or are you going to help?”

“Ooh, I didn’t know complaining was an option. Well then, let me start off with my issue of—”

“Discord!”

“Fine, fine. But it’s your loss. No ruler can say that they had the god of chaos as their first guest of public counseling. But fine, see if I care.”

She heard them move across the room, resounding sounds that she was happy to finally hear. She tried to wiggle her way out of her confines to approach the voices, but this barrier was determined to restrict her movements.

During her struggle, she felt the presence of one of the voices. It felt only feet above her; the love she sensed put her in a hungry frenzy as her body glowed. A stream of purple aura entered through the bright lines of her confinement as it entered her, finally satiating the hunger that she had endured for weeks. She sapped for as much as she could until it came to an immediate stop.

“What?” the other voice spoke. “Why do I feel so tired? Was that you?”

“If I had done something,” Chrysalis said. “I assure you; you would know. Now, are we done here? Cause there’s obviously nothing here as I already presumed.”

“…Let’s check the other rooms first.”

“Of course, you’d say that,” Discord sighed.

She can hear their steps fading after having a brief moment of bliss from her hunger. She shook wildly for their attention and her container illuminated as bright as it could. But then the steps disappeared, and it was quiet again. It was all quiet and dark again.

* * *

“Strange,” a hooded mare commented from within a bush. Her eyes furrowed as she witnessed the newly crowned Princess of Equestria, and the Lord of Chaos emerge from a creepy looking cave.

The mare was on her daily forage to spruce new products from interesting herbs she could find from this forest. Most of them turned out to be poisonous, making this search yet another letdown. And at the moment she would call it quits, she found two famous figures lurking in this forest.

Her curiosity was far too piqued to ignore them. She had to know why they were in that cave. So, when she was certain they were no longer within sight, she entered the cave to explore its depths. She checked through the halls and chambers for any clue of what took place here.

Her search led her to a small hollow chamber that held nothing but a slanted rock and a weird purple log that looked to have been tossed aside. “Now what’s this?” The mare picked up the small log and observed its features. No matter how she looked at it, it was a plain broken log. A weirdly shaped and colored one, but still plain one, nonetheless. “This day has been an utter waste of time!” She complained.

She concluded that there was nothing of value here and decided to return home for the day and try again tomorrow. However, her journey out of the chamber halted when she heard a muffled snarl. It was a weak sound, but very noticeable in this quiet cave. The mare traced the constant snarl to the slanted rock but saw nothing. Although, when she looked around, she noticed a green light emanating from a small hole.

The mare used her magic to shift the rock aside and realized that there was a deep hole beneath it. And within that hole lied a creature she has never quite seen in her life.

A large caterpillar-like creature wrapped in a white coating gazed at her. It flailed in a frenzy to get out of the hole, but there was nothing for it to latch onto to move its body. It hissed and cried loudly at the mare, but the hooded mare looked at a daze from this creature. However, her senses snapped when she noticed the mane of this creature started to glow bright green, forcing the mare to mask her eyes.

When the light subsided, the mare glanced at the creature that continued its attempt to climb out of the hole. “What are you?” she asked. Noting the cracked egg beneath the creature, she can guess that it was a newborn. “You’re definitely a rare sight. I might be able to find some use for you.”

The mare was careful to pick up the flailing baby, worried that it may use its small fangs on her. However, as soon as she touched it, the baby began to calm itself and the mare used that moment to pick it up from the hole.

The mare held the baby to her pectoral, careful to near its head to her own where it could possibly leap and bite her face off. She began to feel strangely heavy the longer she held the creature, but there was no way she was going to abandon a possible gold mine like this.

“You’re going to be a valuable asset to me,” the mare said.


	2. The Key Ingredient For Devil's Dust

“Hold still,” a purple mare instructed a filly who was shifting about as she steadied the needle upon the filly’s foreleg.

“But I don’t like how it feels," the filly argued as she fruitlessly shuffled her hoof from the mare’s hold. "I don’t want to do it.”

“Look Wisteria,” the mare started. “Either you let me collect your blood or I cut your whole leg off and take it out then.”

“You won’t do that,” Wisteria called the mare’s bluff. “You wouldn’t be able to get much out of me on a weekly basis anymore.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get that leg pumping good again with blood when I re-attach it.”

“You don’t know how to do that. I’ve never seen you do something like that before.”

“Will you just shut up and hold still already, Wist!?”

Wist shut her eyes tight as the purple mare poked the needle inside the filly. Green flames then aroused from the filly’s body as she revealed her jet-black skin and long fangs.

“Why in Equestria are you even in disguise right now,” the mare questioned. “No creature but us are welcome in this hut.”

This mare that has taken upon herself to become the guardian of the nymph referred to herself as Poison Peck. She had told Wisteria that she discovered her a long time ago in an empty cave and had decided, in her so-called "generous heart", to care for her since no creature else was not around to do so.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow,” Wist shuddered at the pricking of the needle as its streamed milliliters of her blood into its capsule.

After moments of her slow torture, Poison finally removed the needle from the nymph changeling as Wist rubbed her stabbed hoof. “See,” Poison said. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“I like to see you try it,” Wist mumbled.

“Stop being a baby,” Poison laid the syringe on a table in the middle of the hut and picked up the nymph. “You never see me complain when I feed you.”

“That’s different,” Wist argued.

“Course it’s not,” Poison said. “There’s only so much love you can take out of me before I run dry.”

“That’s not true. You love me so much that you never get tired.”

“Now that’s a mighty strong claim you’re making there,” Poison raised a brow. “I could just be putting up an act just so you won't cry about how hard I’m struggling.”

“I’m not a crybaby,” Wist retorted.

“Course you are,” Poison hugged her. “You’re my precious little gem of a crybaby.”

“Why can’t you just admit you love me?”

“Not every creature gets what they want," Poison said. "Some of us have to work hard to get the things they desire.”

“So, if I don’t complain, then you’ll admit you love me,” Wist widened.

“Don’t get your hopes up, but I guess that'd be a start...Are you good now?”

“Yup,” Wist confirmed and then Poison let the nymph down the floorboard.

“Good, cause I got to hurry and make this new batch.” Poison returned the table and levitated the syringe in a purple aura as she shifted close to a beaker with boiling black liquid.

“Does my blood really help make so much money,” Wist asked. “Cause if so, why don’t we have a bigger house? I want to have my own room.”

“Stop sounding so ungrateful,” Poison scolded. “Besides, I already told you that the stuff I make is not accepted by many. Do you know how much trouble I could get in if the authorities caught wind of where the devil's dust came from?”

“If it’s so bad, then why do it?”

“It’s a gold mine Wist,” Poison said. “I’ve already told you this. There’s something special about your blood that no other changeling has. With just a dab of it, you can have an earth pony levitating objects about and also bring so much joy in the hearts of creatures.”

“You're also forgetting that it can drive them insane,” Wist added.

“Only if they take in too much,” Poison said. “It’s their fault if that happens, I already gave them fair warning of the effects. Besides, you can’t tell me that you find it hilarious.”

“Well, they are kind of funny when they go nuts,” Wist admitted.

“You’re a devious little thing,” Poison commented. “But you’re my daughter, so what can I do?” Poison slightly pushed upon the syringe with her magic as a bit of Wist’s extorted blood trickled down into the beaker. The moment her blood entered the liquid, a black smoke gushed out of it and then quickly dissipated as Poison removed the beaker from the burner it laid atop of the table.

“Can you teach me more hex spells now?” Wist suddenly asked.

“What?" Poison faced her head to her daughter. "Wist, I don’t have time for that right now. My clients from across the border are gonna come here in a few days. You wanna learn more spells from me, then go fetch more ingredients for me.”

“Oh, come on,” Wist complained. “Isn’t my blood the only thing you need?”

“That may be true, but no creature is going to drink plain blood. Now stop complaining and go get me those ingredients. You know where to find them.”

* * *

Wist flew over the branches and crawled through hollow logs as she scavenged for herbs and plants that she was positive her mother would need to cook another pile of devil's dust.

For years, Wist has played and explored the lengths of this forest. Through her countless journeys around these woods, Wist was able to remember the location of all the ingredients she ever needed to find for her mother. A convenience to Poison that saved her time from dirtying her own hooves. Regardless, Wist did enjoy this time of freedom. Her mother trusted her a lot to walk these woods on her own, confident of her daughter's skill to watch over herself after years of raising her.

Finding a small patch of fungi growing atop a tree and throwing pieces of it into her small saddlebag, Wist perked her ears upon a voice. “We’re really going in far. You sure this is fine?”

Wist peaked below to a dirt road where she saw a group of four foals. There were two colts within the group that was a few distances ahead of two fillies as they appeared to be mouthing off at each other.

“Not until he admits that I’m the braver pony,” one of the colts argued.

“Well that ain’t happening,” the other colt argued. “Cause I’m the bravest in the class.”

“You guys are being a bunch of twits,” said a pink filly that sighed at the colts’ competitive conversation. “Can’t you both just agree that you’re both brave?”

“That won’t cut it, Luster,” one of the colts argued. “I need him to realize that I’m bravest of them all. You can go if you want, but I’m gonna show what I’m made of when we find the monster of the forest.”

“They say that the monster of the forest is as big as an Ursa Minor,” said the other mare. “It made this whole forest its territory and it gets really upset when some pony comes in when they’re not welcomed.”

“Don’t worry,” one of the colts voiced. “When that monster shows up, I’ll protect you.”

“Yeah right,” the other colt retorted. “You’re the one that’s going to be chickening out while I’ll be the one saving the day.”

“You two are going to end up being its lunch if you keep this up,” Luster groaned. “Come on, it’s not too late to turn back now. I promise I won’t tell the teacher.”

“Will you stow it, Luster,” said one of the colts. “I ain’t leaving till he does.”

“You two are impossible,” Luster growled. “Are you really going to go that far just to look cool in front of her?” Luster pointed her hoof to the filly that swayed her sights around for the creature.

“I just want to see if it's real,” the filly said.

“Even if it meant getting eaten?” Luster asked the filly.

“I’m not all that scared,” the filly responded. “I have you with me. You know all sorts of magic.”

“I-I know some too,” one of the colts voiced.

Wist couldn’t help but grin at the nervous colts that were clearly putting up a bravado. If they wanted to see the monster so badly, then she had no objection to oblige. Besides, it would be wrong of her not to put their words to the test, wouldn’t it?

Wist placed her saddlebag aside atop the branch as a stream of flames enveloped the small changeling's body as she descended into the bushes. The group of foals paused at the rustle she made from the leaves.

“What was that,” the filly asked as the colts gathered in front of her as a defensive line. Wist became giddy of the terror she would strike upon those phony colts trying to be heroes.

Wist emerged before the foals, horrifying them with her large body. As tall as the filly had described, Wist earned a scream from the foals in her large body as a black boar. The multiple black rings that surrounded her pupil was an added touch to really give those colts a fright.

As Wist had expected, the colts screamed and immediately fled at the sight of her as the filly followed behind them. Luster, however, stepped back carefully with her horn lit.

There was indeed fear in her eyes, but there was also an intensity that warned Wist that she would expect resistance from the filly if she took a step towards her. Wist faltered back, not expecting this from a creature her age.

At her sudden shock, she quickly noticed the green flames enveloping again. Her form was dissipating only after a moment's loss of concentration. Wist lacked the training to maintain such a large form; even the slightest disturbance could undo her transformation.

Luster widened at the inflamed boar and scurried around to find any water to douse the flames with. Wist attempted to flee but then began to feel herself become lighter as her body rolled across the dirt against her will.

Luster gritted her teeth as she tried to grind the flames off of the boar. Completely frenzied by the filly’s action, Wist lost all grasp of her magic as the flames deteriorated her form, compacting her down back to her original state.

“What the…” Luster paused at the creature before her.

Wist immediately raised her body and leaped into the bushes to hide before another word came from the filly.

“Wait,” Luster called to her. “Don’t go!”

Wist hid low underneath the bushes, carefully observing the filly through the leaves. She made a big mistake just now. Out of everything her mother has told her, there was one rule that she must follow no matter what: never let any creature see her. Her presence in these forests was meant to be unknown to creatures. Her mother would surely be upset with her for this.

Wist’s mind scrambled to find an immediate solution to her problem, but she couldn’t think of anything fruitful.

“Hey,” Luster continued to call. “Are you still there? I just want to talk to you.”

Wist concluded that it was best to bring the filly home somehow. Maybe she can catch her as a creature with a large mouth. She’ll just need to wait for the perfect—

“There you are,” Luster said as she crouched her head to the bush Wist hid in. The nymph faltered back at the filly’s sudden appearance, letting the fallen leaves fall into her mouth for her to spit out. “Wait, don’t go,” Luster voiced as her horn illuminated again to whisk the nymph off the ground and pulled Wist before her.

“Let me go,” Wist flailed her body. Luster adhered to the nymph's demand and released her grip of Wist, causing the nymph to fall on the ground.

“Sorry," Luster hurriedly apologized. "I didn’t mean for that to happen. I just didn’t want you to run away.”

Wist picked herself up quickly and jumped back into a defensive stance. Her horn illuminated green as Luster lifted a hoof up. “Wait,” Luster voiced. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

“Talk?” Wist asked while keeping her magic readied. Shapeshifting now would take too long to give the filly more than enough time to respond. However, Wist does have a hex spell she learned that could make the filly more compliant. Well, as long as she cast it right.

“You’re a changeling, right?” Luster asked.

“...That’s what my mom tells me.” Wist hesitantly answered. She’s never been given a question by a creature before. Those that visit her home are never given the chance to see her since Poison hides her under their floorboard. Although those she comes upon alone have either fled for their life or passed out for her to carry out of the forest when she gives them a fright with her numerous large forms she had seen from books.

“I knew it,” Luster’s eyes sparkled. “That had to have been shapeshifting that you did earlier. But I’ve never seen a changeling so black. Are you perhaps a different breed?”

“Uh...I don’t know,” Wist admitted. “Does it really matter?”

“Of course, it matters!” Luster blurted as she suddenly approached Wist. The nymph faltered back, but Luster still closed the distance between them as she grabbed one of Wist’s hooves. “I’ve never seen a creature with holes through their body. What’s the purpose of them?”

Wist gazed at Luster, enamored by the filly’s curiosity in her. “Can... can I ask for your name?”

“Hm,” Luster raised her face to meet Wist. It was so close to Wist that she could see the depths of the filly’s eyes. “Oh right, I guess we should introduce ourselves. Well, you can call me Luster Dawn. I live in a town outside of this forest. What’s yours?”

“...I’m Wist. I live in this forest with my mom.”

“You live in this place,” Luster widened her eyes. “Don’t you think that’s kind of dangerous?”

“Nuh-uh,” Wist shook her head. “I know the in and out of this place. Nothing here can touch me. Plus, I have my mom here to protect me.”

“Then what’re you doing here alone?” Luster asked.

“I’m picking up ingredients for my mom,” Wist answered. “She needs them for her special drug.”

“A special drug?” Luster wondered. “Sounds like a specific potion-making. Can I help?”

“Mom doesn’t like any creature she doesn’t know to come into her home.”

“Aww, but I really want to see it. Well, can I at least help you find the ingredients?”

"Why?" Wist was befuddled by the filly's request. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about those foals?"

"I'm sure they've long left this place after the scare you gave them. Also, I'm really curious about those ingredients. So, can I come?"

“Maybe...but you can’t slow me down.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. You will find that I can take care of myself.”

* * *

“Are you sure I won’t fall?” Luster anxiously asked the nymph as she was pulled atop a branch far above the ground. “Why do we have to be so high? Are you sure this is the only place where it grows?”

“You sure ask a lot of questions when you’re scared,” Wist commented as she ripped a patch of red mosses from the bark of a tree and tossed it in her small saddlebag.

"I'm well within my right to when I'm over a yard above the ground."

"You won't be going far with the attitude. My mom says that those who can't rise to the challenge are always destined for failure."

"Well what I have planned for the future won't have anything to do with tree climbing; at least I hope so."

"Really?" Wist startled the filly when she approached her, wobbling the branch a slight. "What do you want to be?"

"Easy, Wist," Luster voiced. "You're the only one with wings here."

"Come on, tell me. I want to know."

"Okay, okay, just stop moving about like that." Luster made a mistake by dawning her eyes below, taking in how high she climbed. Her hooves immediately latched onto Wist. "Sweet Twilight, why did I let you talk me into this?"

"Luster," Wist whined. "Why won't you tell me?"

"C-can you hold me first?" Luster asked. "If you do that, then I'll tell you."

Wist adhered to the filly's request and pulled the filly close to her as she leaned to the bark of the tree.

"Wow, how do you feel so cold in this heat?" Luster asked.

"Luster," Wist eyed at Luster.

"Oh, right… Well, I've always envisioned doing great things. I don't know what that is exactly, but I'm hoping that the Princess will one day point me in the right direction."

"The Princess?"

"Yeah, Princess Twilight has done a lot of great things for Equestria. Plus, she's said to possess a vast knowledge of magic, surpassing even that of the late Starswirl the Bearded. If I can just have her look my way, I bet she can make me a wise wizard."

"So, you want to be a wizard?" Wist concluded. "That almost sounds like what I want to be."

"You want to be a wizard too?"

"Well, not that. What I want to be is a witch."

"A what?" Luster widened at the nymph. "You can't be a witch? A witch is the complete opposite of a wizard. They're bad creatures."

"Witches aren't bad," Wist retorted. "My mom is a witch and she hasn't hurt a single creature. Well, except for bugs and animals, but those don't count."

"Your mom is a witch!?"

"Cool, right?" Wist smiled. "I'm going to be just like her when I grow up. Sprucing up drugs and potions and learning all sorts of magic."

"..."

"Don't give me that look," Wist glared at Luster's concerned face. "Being a witch is ten times better than being some wizard. Mom said that there's like hundreds of them. But not many can be a witch."

"You have a lot of faith in your mother," Luster frowned. "Don't you?"

"That's a weird question to ask," Wist furrowed her brow. "Don't you have a mom as well?"

"I do...," Luster admitted. "Hey, I have something I want to share with you."

"You do?"

Luster lit her horn as a pocket within her small saddlebag glimmered, whisking out a necklace with strings of seashells.

"Here," Luster floated the necklace around Wist's neck. "I want you to have this."

"What is it?" Wist used a hoof to examine the necklace.

"It's something I made from school today. I was planning on giving it to my mom, but I think you'll need it more."

"Wow, I've never gotten a gift from a stranger before, thanks."

"You know my name," Luster voiced. "And we're not strangers anymore. We're friends."

"We are? When did that happen?"

"Wist, we've spent the whole afternoon together collecting plants. Don't you think we've bonded enough to be pals?"

"I don't know," Wist answered. "I've never had a friend before. It's always just me and my mom."

"Well, I promise it'll be more than that from here on."

"Ugh, I hate promises, they're always so hard to keep."

"Well, you'll find that I don't go back on mine." Luster proudly said.

"If you say so," Wist grinned. "But don't expect any from me."

"You're being selfish, Wist" Luster voiced.

"No, I'm not. If I was, I would've let you fall already."

"Hey, don't joke about that," Luster tightened her grip around Wist. "Can we please get off this tree already? We already got what we came for, right?"

"I'm not carrying you," Wist pointed out.

"You have to," Luster argued. "That's what a good friend would do."

"Golly," Wist gave a sadistic smile. "I guess I'm a bad one then. Have fun living off the mosses and leaves."

"Wist!"

* * *

Luster hugged Wist after being led out of the forest. The love exuding from the filly was enticing to the nymph, but she didn't want to exhaust Luster while on her way home. Wist awkwardly waved at the filly as the sun was beginning to descend from the land. Now was a good time to return home.

Her travel back to her hut was brief after taking the shortest route back. Wist knocked on the door and immediately it opened to a pair of hooves that snatched her inside.

"Where have you been," Wist perked to a broken voice as her body was being squeezed into another. Wist raised her head and noted the sobbing mare that was her mother. "You had me so worried. I thought something bad must've happened to you."

"You snorted some of it, didn't you?" Her mother was prone to sample the drug herself on occasion to test how it fares on a pony. Wist believed that it was an excuse for her mother to relish on some of it.

"Don't ever leave my side again," Poison continued. "Don't you know how much your mommy loves you?"

Poison has always told her that the devil's dust is supposed to arouse high levels of joy to those that ingest it. However, there are some exceptions to that, like Wist's mother for example.

Poison gets really emotional when she ingests the dust, sobbing about her feelings. To many, it could be seen as an inconvenience, but Wist really likes this side of Poison. To her, the dust simply made Poison honest about her feelings.

"I know you do mom," Wist hugged Poison. "I love you too. But look, I brought all the ingredients just like you asked."

"You are such a good filly," Poison kissed Wist's forehead, earning a giggle from her daughter.

"Stop that," Wist giggled. "Your love is ticklish when you do that."

"And you'll be getting many more as punishment for giving your mother a scare."

"Noo," Wist playfully voiced as she became smothered by many kisses from her mother. The sound of her laughter resounded across the hut, but she enjoyed it oh so much.

* * *

“Ugh,” Poison craned her head as she watched Wist mix a black liquid within a beaker with a thin rod. “Why does my head still hurt?”

“That depends,” Wist said as she kept her attention on the pot. “How much of the dust did you snort?”

“Don’t be asking me questions little filly,” Poison leered at the nymph. “Don’t forget who’s the adult here.”

“Yes mom,” Wist blankly said. She then pulled her thin rod out of the pot. “Hey mom, I think I’m finished.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Poison stepped beside Wist before the table as she tapped her hoof on the liquid and placed her soaked hoof into her mouth. Slurping the liquid to her mouth, Poison clicked her tongue to bask in its taste.

“Come on mom,” Wist became antsy of Poison’s prolonged analysis. “I know it just as well as you do it. I’ve seen you make it a hundred times.”

“Wist,” Poison pulled her hoof from her mouth. “There is no room for mistakes for the kind of job I do. The slightest sign of skepticism could run the risk of ruining everything I got going here.”

“But I made it right, didn’t I?”

Poison sighed, “It’ll do. Well then, I guess now is as good a time as any to start on your lessons.”

“Yes,” Wist pumped her hoof.

Wist was giddy to practice more on the bountiful of curses that her mother knew. Poison had displayed numerous sorts of horrors upon test animals that left Wist in awe. She couldn’t wait to plot on numerous pranks and chaos to set upon the trespassers that would dare to step into their sanctuary.

Her mother said that she learned all of these curses from a grimoire that had long been burned to ashes by Celestia. She never provided details as to why the former Princess would do such a ridiculous thing as to get rid of Wist’s best possible reference book, but it matters not since Poison happened to memorize its texts.

After Poison gave Wist a lecture of a certain spell she was eager to learn, Poison placed a cage with a hamster before Wist. “Alright,” Poison said. “Let’s do a hooves-on work to make sure you paid attention. So, tell me what’s the first thing I need to do?”

“Why don’t I do it,” Wist raised her hoof. “I think I got the gist of it.”

“Oh no,” Poison shook her head. “I’m not letting that happen again. You have way too much magic in that small body of yours. You might give this critter enough anger to break out this cage and choke the life out of me.”

“It was only one-time mom,” Wist rolled her eyes.

“You had a bird eat and poop an entire hut,” Poison raised a brow. “Something like that should be impossible.”

“Yeah,” Wist chuckled. “That bird was really hungry, wasn’t it?”

“Look, Wist, I just need you to pay close attention. I don’t want to spend another week building another hut.”

“I got it, mom,” Wist sighed.

“You better. Now, what’s the first step?”

“The first step is to imagine the emotion in your body and mind. The spell must emulate from the caster in order to pass on to the target.”

“And what emotion is it that I need to develop?”

Wist sighed and then answered, “Rage.”

“Anger,” Poison voiced. “Rage is too extreme of a word. You’re likely to get carried away with it.” Poison lit her horn in a purple glow that gradually turned pitch black. “Once you’ve created the hate to birth the spell, all that is left is to insert into your target.”

The black glow upon Poison’s horn floated off of her and appeared as a black wisp that flung upon the hamster. The eyes of the small critter glow red as it bore its buck teeth and rushed upon the gates of the cage, gnawing viciously upon it.

“The intensity of the anger depends on the amount the caster puts into the spell and the limit that the target is potential to possess,” Poison said. "Be sure that you remember that."

“This a lot like the other spells you’ve shown me,” Wist said. “You just create the emotion and then slap it onto some creature.”

“Wist, there’s a method for creating each emotion. Why do you think I give you those long lectures? You gotta be mindful of how much you give and how exactly to do it or else you're gonna put some creature into the deep end.”

“I got it, mom,” Wist harrumphed.

“Good, now be a good filly and calm this thing down.”

Poison was well adept in placing curses on creatures, but the one thing she lacked was undoing them. Luckily for her, Wist has a convenient ability to suck emotions out of creatures.

Wist lit her horn and beamed it upon the feral hamster. The light she enshrouded the critter in pulled out a red aura from its body as Wist inhaled it into her body. Wist canceled her spell immediately and spat her mouth.

“Ugh,” Wist spat. “It’s so spicy.”

“Stop your complaining and finish eating the rest.”

Wist groaned and then began feasting on the critter’s anger again. After surviving the tangy taste burning her tongue, her mother offered her a cup of water that Wist immediately chugged down.

“See, that wasn’t so bad.”

“I like you to try it and tell me that again,” Wist complained.

“Oh Wist,” Poison smiled. “You know ponies can’t eat emotions. I’m afraid it’s a curse for only you to bear.”

* * *

Wist proved herself to be a fast learner as she went through a dozen spells that morning. Poison would give her snide comments, but deep down, Wist knew that Poison was proud of her. She could give Wist all the salty words she wanted, but her feelings were nakedly exposed to the nymph’s senses.

“Why are you so eager to learn all of these spells?” Poison asked as she packed fresh new piles of devil's dust into zip-lock plastic bags.

“It’s because I want to be a witch,” Wist answered as she helped her mother store the piles of dust into bags. “Just like you.”

“Yeah, I get that. But why?”

“Why not? There’s no other better pony I want to be like. I don’t know any other creature who’s cooler than you?”

“So, you think I’m cool, huh?” A weak smile was plastered upon the mare. She then turned her head and mumbled, “you could do so much more for yourself than follow my example?”

“Hm?” Wist craned her head to Poison. “Is it snack time already?”

“No, you stupid leech.” Poison sneered. “You know what, I need some fresh air. You keep packing the dust.”

“Aw, but there’s so many.”

“What did I say about making—” Before Poison could finish her words, she paused at the front door as a spark briefly lit upon her horn. Her eyes widened as she gasped, “What? But...why are royal guards…”

Poison looked to Wist, who pouted as she continued packing the dust. Her head craned back and forth between the door and her child. A moment passed as she then gritted her teeth and approached her daughter. “Wist, I need you to go out and find more ingredients for me.”

“Why?” Wist tilted her head. “Haven’t we already made enough?”

“No...no, we haven’t. Uh...I just remembered that the client actually needs at least one more box. This much won’t cut it.”

“So what? One less box isn’t going to hurt him.”

“What did I tell you, Wist,” Poison voiced. “You can’t make any room for mistakes; else you risk ruining everything.”

“Fine,” Wist groaned as she left the table and lit her horn to whisk her saddlebag onto her. “I’ll go get some more.”

“Good,” Poison smiled. “And don’t rush, I want all of it neatly organized.”

“Okay, okay, I got it,” Wist said as she made her way for the front door. But before she left, she felt her mother’s hooves wrap around her from behind. “I thought you said it wasn’t snack time.”

“Take it for the road,” Poison said. “Take as much as you like. But be quick about it.” Poison felt her body get heavy as she felt the intense emotions in her body soak inside to her daughter.

“Mom, why do you feel sad?”

“Because,” Poison's voice suddenly broke, but then she grunted and tried to voice her words out again. “Because I feel so ashamed for this mix-up. You know how much of a perfectionist I am.”

“Sure…”

“Hey, you know I love you, right?”

Wist perked her ears as a smile suddenly raised upon her face. “What was that?”

“Ugh, it figures you would do that.”

“But mom, I didn’t hear it quite clearly. You’re going to have to speak up.”

“I love you, Wist,” Poison finally admitted. “There, are you satisfied now?”

“I knew it,” Wist couldn’t hold back the big smile she had on her face. After many times to goad her mother to say those words while not drugged, to hear them come out her mouth made her feel so validated. Validated that she was indeed loved.

“Now go on,” Poison prodded her daughter to the door. “And go through the back, okay?”

“Yes mom,” Wist giggled as she exited the hut. Poison followed her daughter’s movement through the window as she sighed in relief that Wist went through the back as she instructed.

Poison walked back to the table and gazed at the piles of dust that she created with her daughter’s blood. This stuff has made her a fortune, yet she did not risk using the bits anywhere. A rich pony is bound to get attention and she wouldn’t risk that for anything.

There was also no way for her to have neighbors. She would attract too much attention because of the daughter she was raising.

The only life she could have was here in this lone forest with her daughter. But she had to admit, it was a very eventful one. That mischievous little brat had a talent for creating so much chaos, so much profit, and so much cherishing memories.

A tear inevitably escaped the mare. Wist would never have a normal life if they knew she was her daughter. She missed out on so many things because the career Poison chose for herself. She never got to show her hometown that Wist was so eager to know about. She never got to show her the giant cities in Equestria that Wist could only ogle at through posters that Poison brought back from her stealthy travels. She never even got her to make a friend. Celestia knew that she should’ve at least found her one. That may be her biggest regret.

Poison perked her ears as she rushed to peer through the windows. There they were, just as the perception spell she set miles around her home had shown her. A group of royal guards stepped out of the woods to the front of her hut. She didn’t know how they found her, but they will find that she won’t be going anywhere without a fight.

Poison retreated to the table and glared at the pile of dust. She doesn’t know how much she can handle, but regardless of what happens, the first thing that she must do is get rid of all of the dust along with everything in this room. She can’t give them a single trace of Wist’s existence.

Poison grabbed a hoof-full of the dust and breathed it into her nose. “Destroy everything,” she said. “Destroy everything, destroy everything, destroy everything.” She repeated like it was a mantra. A heavy number of tears fell from her eyes as her voice cracked more and more.

“Destroy everything, *hic* destroy everything, destroy everything,” Her sad face then lifted to a smile and then to a burst of frantic laughter. Her eyes then gleamed bright green like her daughter’s mane, as a disturbing smile grew upon the mare. “Destroy everything!”

Wist was careful to organize all the ingredients in each compartment of her saddlebag. Her mother will give her a mouthful of praises with how tidy she made things. Wist’s careful placing and travels to the various locations in the forest took her hours of labor as the night inevitably dawned upon her during her travel back home.

However, when she finally returned to the hut, she discovered that there was no longer one. All around, she could see remnants of her home sprawled all across the clearing that was her yard.

Wist furrowed her brow in confusion as she stepped atop the floorboard that appeared to be the only thing recognizable. All of the furniture and decoration that she and her mother had collected over the years were now gone. Her home was in complete ruin.

“What in Equestria happened here,” Wist wondered. Her eyes flailed about, trying to find where her mother was. But no matter where she looked, she was nowhere in sight. “Maybe she went to find material to make a new hut. I really hope she doesn’t expect me to help…Who am I kidding, of course, she’s going to.”

Wist widened her eyes when they dawned upon a black blanket that was stuck upon a broken beam of the hut. Wist lit her magic and brought the sheet before her. It was her bedroom sheet, now torn apart.

Wist frowned. Her mother knitted this blanket. It was poorly made, but the love that came from it made it better than any other her mother bought for her. Maybe her mom could fix it when she comes back from collecting materials. But for now, it was still large enough to cover her body.

After placing the saddlebag off of her, Wist lit her horn and pulled a loose floorboard aside. Underneath was a small hiding place that Poison instructs her to go into when she has visitors.

Within her hiding place, there laid the necklace seashell she received from her friend. Placing it around her neck, Wist hid underneath the floorboard and pulled the blanket with her to wrap herself around. Though battered, Wist could still clutch upon the residual love that warmed her body.

When she wakes up, she’s going to hear a mouthful from her mother and get worked to death making a new home for each other. But as long as she has her mother, that’s all she will ever need.

  
  



	3. The Impish Witch, Wisteria

Twilight sparked her existence upon an uncomfortably quiet village as she made a swift descent upon the streets. Her eyes were fierce as she tried to take note of her surroundings. It brought her distraught to see her ponies so fatigued upon their porches and streets as some slept and groaned in exhaustion. 

Twilight grew anxious when she saw a trail of changeling guards immobilized along with her ponies as they appeared to have fallen asleep. She needed to find Thorax fast before he suffered the same fate.

Twilight had just recently finished her meeting with the council of friendship when she received a sudden scroll from Thorax. She struck again and Thorax was about to make contact with her.

Twilight did not anticipate that she would make it this far into Equestria. Only days ago did Thorax inform Twilight about her passing across the Changeling Kingdom. Twilight had collaborated with Thorax to set their guards across the borders of Equestria and nearby towns to confront her, but somehow she managed to slip through the cracks.

This normal village of ponies held no chance to resist the creature that came before them. She had failed to protect them, but that is not to say that she can still not save them.

Crossing another street full of fatigued ponies and changelings, Twilight perked her ears upon a familiar voice. “You can’t continue to do this. Sapping the love of other creatures is no longer the way of the changelings.”

“Why are you lumping me with your whole group of followers?” That voice, it must be her. “I am me, no creature else.”

Before Twilight stood Thorax, absent of fatigue or bruises, gazing upon the roof of a house. Atop that roof was her. The creature that has caused recent chaos in Twilight’s kingdom. The sight of this being gave her an uncomfortable nostalgia, but she was determined to not let the same disaster repeat itself.

Twilight flew to Thorax’s side as she called to him, “Thorax, are you okay?”

“Princess Twilight,” Thorax said. “So glad you’re here. Maybe you can help me reason with her.”

“Princess Twilight?” the creature atop the roof spoke. “So you’re the ruler of Equestria?”

“I am many of its protectors,” Twilight spoke. “Might I ask who you are? It’s not often one comes across a changeling queen.”

“Huh?” the creature appeared befuddled. “Why do creatures keep calling me that? I’m not some prissy queen, okay? I am a witch.”

“A witch?” Twilight raised a brow and then turned to Thorax. “You didn’t mention that in the scroll.”

“She’s just misguided,” Thorax said. “She is a queen, but she is also very young. Her ways are just influenced by the hive she resides from. We just need to give her a helping hoof in the right direction.”

“Oh my goodness,” the witch rolled her eyes. “Please tell me this is not another of your preach about friendship. I already told you that I don’t care about that.”

“Then what is that you care for?” Twilight asked. “Why have you come to Equestria?”

“To find  _ home  _ of course,” the witch said. “It’s got to be somewhere here in these lands.”

“Then this is not the way. Harassing my citizens will only make them fearful of you. You have to be willing to open yourself to friendship if you truly wish to belong here.”

“I’m not trying to belong here you dunce,” the witch retorted. “I said I’m trying to find  _ home _ . I could care less about how any creature feels about me.”

“Find home?” Twilight paused on the witch’s words.

Thorax on the other hoof stepped forward and voiced, “Please, you have to stop what you’re doing. We can help you find this home you speak of if you promise to stop this raid on the homes of creatures. This will only complicate things if you continue this behavior.”

“Golly,” the witch grinned. “You must think I’m so hopeless on my own. But you should know that one’s appearance can be deceiving. I don’t need your help to find it because I already know where it is.”

“Then why are you sapping the love of these ponies?” Thorax retorted.

“Why not?” The witch shrugged. “Feels natural to me, so why stop it?”

“Don’t you see that you’re going to make an enemy out of every creature because of this?”

“Why in Abyssinia should I care about that? I was hungry, so I got something to eat. Sure I could go for regular food, but they don’t fill me faster compared to this. Besides, It’s not like I’ve killed any creature.”

Thorax gritted his teeth. “They’re just no reasoning with her.”

“We skipped over this,” Twilight asked. “But can I ask for your name, please?”

“You’re really polite for a ruler,” the witch raised her brow. “It’s honestly kind of weird. But, since you asked so nicely again, I will tell you. My name is Wisteria, the wicked witch of the East.”

“Of the east? Is that where you hive came from?”

Wisteria sighed. “This conversation is really getting boring. I only chose to entertain it because I’ve never seen anything like the two of you. Welp,” Wisteria clapped her hooves. “I gotta be going.”

“Wait,” Twilight unfurled her wings. “I believe it's for the best that we have this conversation through to its conclusion.”

“Well, this is it then.” Wisteria unfurled her wings and attempted to make her ascent, but then a violet bubble suddenly enshrouded her and left her trapped. “Hm?” Wisteria tapped on the bubble. “What kind of magic is this?”

Twilight flew before Wisteria. “I would advise not to resist. I need you to understand that I can’t have you run free when you are so lenient to harm my citizens.”

“Your horn is lit,” Wisteria pointed at Twilight’s horn. “The spell is coming from you, isn’t it?”

“You don’t know about the shield spell?” Twilight was a bit surprised to hear this assessment from a changeling queen, regardless of how young she was. “Foals and nymphs are usually trained to use the basics of spells.”

“Is that so? I guess I missed those lessons.”

“...Have you been on your own?”

“Twilight,” Thorax voiced as he ascended to approach them. “Maybe we should cuff her horn so she won’t try any funny business.”

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” Wisteria grinned as her horn lit a dark ominous aura.

“Ow,” Thorax flinched at sudden pain that pricked upon his hind as he took notice of a dark circle that engraved upon it. Black flames immediately billowed out from the circle that quickly turned to dust that dissipated just as fast.

“Thorax!” Twilight shouted as the leader of the changelings fell to the ground. Twilight turned to Wisteria with an intense look. “What did you do to him?”

“Don’t you worry Princess,” Wisteria smiled. “He’s gonna feel really good in a few seconds.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight’s question was immediately answered when she noticed Thorax starting to giggle as he lugged himself back to his feet. His voice bellowed into laughter and the tears exuded from his eyes became endless.

“Thorax,” Twilight called to him, befuddled by Thorax's sudden behavior. But, it also appeared similar to symptoms of a… “No…”

Green flames shrouded the changeling leader as a large green dragon emerged, looking down upon Wisteria and Twilight with a disturbing grin. Its eyes gleamed a powerful green light that disturbed the Princess of Friendship. 

“You drugged him,” Twilight said. “But how—when?”

“Well,” Wisteria tapped her chin with a glee. “I may not know the basics, but I can assure you that I am well versed in other magics. Ones typical of a witch, you can say.”

“You have to undo this,” Twilight urged. “Don’t realize the danger you’ve created by doing this?”

“I’d worry less about me and what that big fella is about to do. You are one of many protectors of Equestria, aren’t you?”

Twilight gritted her teeth at this witch’s antic. However, she lacked time to scold the young one after Thorax blew a large gust of wind as he ascended to the sky. “Thorax, wait!” Twilight called to him, but he did not respond as he then alerted Twilight when he took a deep breath. 

Twilight briefly looked back to Wisteria, “This won’t go unpunished, I hope you know that.”

“He’s seconds away from burning the village, Princess,” Wisteria informed Twilight with a witty grin.

Inevitably, Twilight had no choice but to release Wisteria and fly underneath Thorax to cast a large shield around herself. Thorax exhaled and released a massive flame upon the Princess, but Twilight stood firm as best as she could to deflect the flames from the village below.

And while Twilight struggled to fight off Thorax’s flames, Wisteria made her undisturbed mistake, passing by the unconscious changeling guards that Thorax had previously sent upon her.

“Have fun, Princess!”

* * *

“I hope you enjoyed your tour around the school,” Starlight said to the pink mare as they walked through a long hallway. “I know my school has some radical differences from Canterlot, but I believe you will come to love them.”

“Don’t worry, Headmare Starlight,” the pink mare assured. “I realize that the School of Friendship possesses a far different curriculum from Twilight’s School for Gifted Unicorns. It’s only natural since magic spells are a core part of its subjects. It would be strange not to think that there would be many key differences to accommodate friendship.”

“You’re very understanding,” Starlight smiled. “So then, I can assume you find these differences satisfactory, yes?”

“Of course, I can’t wait to experience everything this school has to offer.”

“I like that energy of yours,” Starlight said. “Reminds me much of myself when I was younger.”

“You were eager to learn about friendship at a young age?”

“Well, not that far back, but—Hey, would you like at that, we made it to your dorm room.” Starlight levitated a key into a doorknob and opened the door into an empty with two beds on opposite ends.

“Wow, it’s kind of small,” the pink mare commented.

“Yes, well, I’ve tried to build funds to expand the rooms here, but so far I’ve only managed to do so for ooms shared by four. This will suffice though, right?”

“That’s fine with me,” the pink mare entered the room. “Maybe a small room can provide more opportunities for me to bond with my roommate...Where is my roommate by the way?”

“This is one of the vacant rooms,” Starlight said. “So I’m afraid you’re the only one that will be living here at the moment.”

“Oh...Well, that’s all subject to change, right?”

“If you like, you can ask for a classmate to move in with you? I’m more than willing to accommodate the change.”

“I think I can manage that. Asking a friend to move in, that doesn’t sound too hard...That isn’t hard right? There’s not a lesson I have to go over first to do this effectively, right? Wait, maybe I can refer to a textbook. Maybe I should go to the library for momen—”

“Luster Dawn,” Starlight voiced as she laid a hoof upon the pink mare’s shoulder. “Everything will be fine. We’ll make it happen one hoof at a time, okay?”

“...Okay,” Luster sighed. “Sorry about that. I tend to overthink things a lot.”

“I can understand, I had those moments as well. Well then, your things will be arriving in the morning, but I will provide sheets and pillows for the night. Think you can manage?”

“I wouldn’t mind sleeping in the library, but I did overhear the area to have a closing time.”

“We have our reasons. But I promise things will be exciting for you in the coming weeks. We have an event to be hosted by Fluttershy where she will have students help around at the animal sanctuary.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that place. It said to have a collection of creatures from all across Equestria, doesn’t it? I even hear there’s an Ursa that lives there.”

“That is true, but it will inevitably have to be released when it comes to age. But besides that, you will be given the opportunity to adopt an animal from the sanctuary to raise in your dorms. It's a fun project that Fluttershy had thought of for the school that will help students learn responsibilities in caring for others.”

“I can have a pet?” Luster said. “Does that mean I can get a cute little piglet?”

“Hmm, don’t they tend to chew on everything? It would drive me nuts if they touched my books.”

“I’m sure I can chew-proof my things before that day arrives.”

“Well then, I guess I will leave you to get used to your new room. I’ll be back with the sheets and pillows.”

“Thank you Headmare Starlight.”

Starlight nodded and left the dorm room. Luster glanced at the door the headmare left for a few moments and then gazed through the window to see the massive town that was Ponyville. This was the place where the magic of friendship came from, where Princess Twilight began her rise to greatness. If Luster hopes to be anything like her teacher, she will need to learn all she can about friendship...

She’s already made some friends. They are a fun bunch to be around, but with so little experience and knowledge, could she maintain those bonds long enough to know its magic? Luster would have felt more assured if she gained encouragement from a roommate. 

But who should she ask to be her roommate? Will her other friends be okay with her taking a roommate from them? Would they even accept her request? No, stop, you’re overthinking things again. Remember what Headmare Starlight said, take things one hoof at a time.

Luster hopped atop a bed and gazed upon the empty room. This place will hold a lot of memories for her in the future, for this will be her beginning just as it was for Princess Twilight. Luster took a deep breath and then exhaled. “Okay, I’m ready for this.”

* * *

“Princess Twilight,” a royal guard saluted to the Princess of Friendship. “Um, are you okay?”

Twilight garnered a ruffled coat from her bout with Thorax, but thankfully, she was able to restrain the changeling leader and hold him down long enough for her guards to fetch the depressant to cure him.

“I’m fine,” Twilight assured the guard. “But more importantly, how is she?”

“There hasn’t been much change to her condition. She still occasionally laughs and has that creepy smile, but at least her mind is still stable.”

“At least there’s no relapse,” Twilight sighed. “I need to speak with her, alone.”

“As you wish princess.” The guard stepped aside from the Princess’s path as she walked the long narrow path up to a platform elevated by the tall rocks of Tartarus.

Upon the platform, Twilight heard the snicker of a purple mare that was trapped within transparent walls. The mare leaned upon one of these walls as she grinned at the presence of the princess.

“Hello Poison Peck,” Twilight stood before the wall. “How are you feeling?”

“Annoyed,” Poison Peck smiled. “But I’m sure my face says otherwise. Give a minute, won’t you?”

“That’s quite disheartening. Even after how hard we’ve tried to cure you of your condition.”

“Don’t act like you’re doing it simply because you care about me,” Poison leered at the Princess. “We both know you just want information out of me.”

“And I won’t deny that is another reason why I’m doing this.”

“Hmph, you’re so honest and upfront, it’s strange how no creature hasn’t put a knife in your back yet.”

“Because I like to see the good in creatures; however, I know it can be impossible for some. But, I like to think there is still hope for you.”

“Please don’t tell you’re gonna go about that friendship spiel again?” Poison rolled her eyes.

“You’re the second creature to say that today.”

“Oh really, well it’s nice to know that not every creature is a part of your cult.”

“It’s not a cult, Poison. Creatures always have the choice as to whether they desire friendship or not. I advised against the latter, but that’s not my call in the end.”

“I bet if I became a zealot of your ideals, you’d let me free.”

“I would be very skeptical of the sudden change. But even so, I still couldn’t let you free after the deeds you committed. You harmed a lot of creatures selling those drugs, you know?”

“It’s their own fault. It’s not like ever deceived them of what the dust did. They bought it, knowing full well what they were getting themselves into.”

“What you sold spread chaos across my country with creatures getting overdosed and harming the public. We’ve finally managed to create a counter drug against it, but those drugs are still getting trafficked. Not just in Equestria, but even across our borders. The matter is getting out of hoof.”

“—”

“I want to stop the production of the devil’s dust. I still don’t understand why you won’t give me any information. You have no means of profit out of it anymore. Are you perhaps trying to defend your collaborators?”

“I don’t have friends, Princess.”

“Then who is Wisteria?”

“Wha...I don’t know who you are talking about.”

“Well, I think you do. I remembered that name being mentioned in the report, though it was written about a foal being named Wist. We never managed to find this foal, so we kept a missing post out across towns. Though, it proved pretty useless without a face.”

A chuckle escaped Poison. “Is there a point to this conversation, Princess?”

“Poison, how do you suppose I know the whole name?”

“I don’t know, maybe you heard rumors. I’m not interested in guessing games.”

“I met her.”

“...And how was this Wisteria?”

“Fairly young, brash, and very stubborn like some other pony I know. But most importantly, she appears fine.”

“...” A smile appeared on Poison’s face. Twilight would expect Poison to think the Princess would chalk it down as a side-effect from her unique overdose, but Twilight held another view.

“I want to help her Poison. Right now, she’s causing problems for creatures by raiding their homes. And there’s also the issue of her possessing devil’s dust. I can’t ignore her.”

“...Is she a witch?”

“She likes to refer to herself as the wicked witch of the east.”

“That’s so cheesy,” Poison chuckled.

“I want to make peace with her. But I’m afraid I know too little to get through to her. Won’t you tell me about her? About her origins? Her goals?”

“I’m afraid I know just as little as you.” Poison grinned. “Seems I’m just useless to you, aren’t I? At this point, you might throw me to those three-headed pups down below. Those wretched litters always make a racket in these caverns, I’m sure I could make the perfect chew toy to shut them up.”

“Will you stop with the suicidal thoughts!? This is already punishment enough for what you’ve done. I refuse to do anything beyond this. Wouldn’t it hurt Wisteria if you spoke that way?”

“Hah,” Poison guffawed. “You speak as if I have some sort of relationship with this witch. I’ll have you know that we witches prefer to work alone. Partnership is not something we like to practice. We only accept the servitude of others.”

“Things would be so much simpler if you just let down your walls.”

“Well, these you have around me would be a start, don’t you think?”

“And give you the chance to jump off this platform again? You may have those thoughts, but I do know you want it done quickly. Which is why you won’t do it right now.”

“You know me so well.” Poison was unamused.

“If you’re not going to tell me, then I’m just going to have to stop Wisteria the hard way.”

“And how is that?”

“I’m going to catch her...though that’s going to prove a lot difficult given what she has in her arsenal. I’ll have to think of a way around it, so I’ll be off if you’re not interested in telling me anything.”

Twilight began to walk away from the cage, but before she could descend the narrow path, Poison voiced, “Wait.” Twilight stopped and looked back at the mare. “Did she ever mention what her purpose could be?”

“She said that she’s looking for  _ home _ .”

“—”

“I truly hope she finds it.” 

Twilight then descended the narrow path out of Tartarus, leaving the witch pony in her lonesome. The mare contemplated in her mind for a long moment. A mixture of happiness and despair passed upon her face.

She raised a hoof close to her face. She brushed upon it with another hoof to reveal a scar on her skin. A wound that pretentious brat gave her during her larvae stage. Poison brushed the scar upon the snout, hoping to get at least a whiff of her scent. 

“You idiot.” A tear inevitably fell upon the mare’s eyes as she began to flood more and more in her lonesome.

* * *

Wisteria descended upon a branch as she gazed in awe of the massive town that laid before her. “This place is huge.” Her snout widened as she smelled the air around her. “But this has to be it. What else could this scent be? It has to be  _ home _ .”

Her eyes dawned upon a large sign next to the dirt path leading to the town. “So it’s called Ponyville,” Wisteria deduced from the writing. “So this is where  _ home  _ is.”


	4. Looking For Home

“Thank you for guiding me here, Headmare Starlight,” Luster Dawn acknowledged as she took her seat before a table. “I don’t think it would've taken me hours to find this place on my own.”

“I can understand,” Starlight Glimmer nodded as she took her seat on the opposite end of the table. “Ponyville was never this large years ago. It would be overwhelming for any newcomer that isn’t familiar with our home. I imagine would be the same for a pony on their first visit in Manehattan”

“Each of these buildings must have a lot of stories to tell,” Luster said. “Some of which the Princess must have taken part in. I hope that I can learn all I can from them.”

“Then how about we start by taking our orders, shall we? I like to try this new entree the Hayburgers have recently made. It’s apparently a burger with mixtures of vegetables and pineapples.”

“Pineapples in burgers?” Luster raised a brow. “Well, that sounds...extrinsic.”

“Come now Luster,” Starlight chuckled. “You should open yourself to new things while you’re here in Ponyville. Think of it as an opportunity to engross yourself to new cultures.”

“I guess that’s one way to look at it,” Luster said. “Okay then, I would like to order this special pineapple burger as well.”

“...What in Abyssinia are they doing?” A green mare took a seat at a far off table from the two unicorns. The sight of her befuddled the green mare. She doesn’t believe she has ever seen this mare before, but the green mare couldn’t shake this feeling of familiarity she had with her.

The green mare unfolded the menu that was on the table to mask her face as she frequently peered out of it to catch glimpses of the two unicorns. The mare perked her ears at the sound of their voice. “What’s a burger?”

“Hello miss,” the green mare was startled when a blue mare, garnered in an black apron, approached her. “I’m so sorry miss," the blue mare apologized. "Were you still selecting your order?”

“No, no,” the green mare assured. “I think I know what I want.” The green mare skimmed through the menu, but she couldn’t understand the dishes that were written. Many, if not all, appeared completely foreign to her. “Umm, I think I’ll go with the pineapple burger.”

“The new special,” the waitress said. “Coming right up. And would like any drinks?”

“Just water,” the green mare groaned. She wanted this conversation to end already. There was only one that she was fixated on at the moment.

Once the green mare was finally left alone, she pore her sights on the two unicorns again. She tried to recall her memories if she had ever met either of them. To her dismay, her mind could only draw back to her mother and those...unpleasant memories that came after her disappearance.

But she did feel an arousing emotion. It was so strong and intoxicating, but the mare couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. What is this strange emotion she’s feeling?

Through her dine at the Hayburgers, the mare attempted to ruminate on these emotions and hoped for an answer to come her way. Sadly, she was still confused and the unicorns seemed to have concluded their stay at the restaurant.

The green mare smacked her teeth when she noticed the two leaving the restaurant. This place was ideal to grasp as much information about them. Them going to this “school” will surely complicate things for her.

The green mare left as many bits as the older unicorn had left on her table and followed the two unicorns out of the building. The green mare was a bit rattled when the waitress voiced her gratitude for her payment. Not like it mattered to the green mare; it's not like it was her money.

Regardless, the green mare exited the restaurant and saw the two unicorns walking through a small crowd of creatures. The green wasn't concerned. As long as she held the scent of that mare, she was guaranteed to find them. Better to let them distance themselves from her; just as precaution to not draw any unnecessary attention.

“Hi there,” the green mare craned her head to a blue changeling that suddenly greeted her. “You must be new here, right? You have those eyes of a newcomer.”

“I do?” the green mare wondered.

“Not really,” the blue changeling admitted. “It’s just a saying of mine. But, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before. Are you visiting some creature?”

“I guess you can say that,” the green mare said.

“I don’t mean to pry, but who might this creature be? I could be of some help.”

“That’s awfully nice of you,” the green mare raised a brow. “Is there a reason for that?”

“We’re all neighborly here in Ponyville,” the blue changeling smiled. “I’ll definitely won’t be the last to give you a helping hoof.” The blue changeling’s smile weakened as she continued, “Well, if you want it at least. I don’t want to force you into telling me if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“...I’m looking for a mare. Her name is Starlight Glimmer. I think she’s the headmare of a school, right?”

“Headmare Starlight,” the blue changeling said. “The Principal of the school of friendship?”

“There’s even a school for that nonsense,” the green mare cringed. “

“Why do you want to meet Starlight?” the blue changeling asked.

“That is between me and her,” the green mare said. “So then, can you tell where to find this school?”

“I can take you there if you like,” the blue changeling offered. “Though, we would have to take a quick detour first. I have an errand I need to finish.”

“A detour? Why is that?”

“Well, I happen to teach at the school of friendship,” the blue changeling revealed. “Oh, we haven’t even introduced ourselves yet. I’m Ocellus. Can I ask your name?”

“No,” the green mare blankly answered.

“Oh,” Ocellus was drawn back by the mare’s answer. “...okay then.”

“It’s Wist,” the green mare answered.

“What? Then why did you say no if you were going to tell me?”

“Why not?” the green mare shrugged with a grin. “You looked so depressed by my rejection; I couldn't resist.”

“That’s not very nice, Wist. You shouldn’t play with the emotions of friends.”

“Well maybe Starlight Glimmer can enlighten me then.”

“Wait, do you intend to enroll in the school? Is that why you wish to meet her?”

“We should really attend to that errand of yours, Ocellus,” Wist said. “I don’t want to miss my chance to speak with the headmare.”

“I promise it won’t take too long,” Ocellus sighed. “But, this could also be a good opportunity to give you a tour around town. It couldn’t hurt to be more familiar with Ponyville if you become my student.”

“What do you mean your student?” Wist raised a brow.

“Come now Wist,” Ocellus smiled. “We should really finish my errand before it’s too late.”

“Oh,” Wist grinned. “Trying to be witty, are we?”

* * *

“I want you to know that I didn’t agree to this tour idea,” Wist voiced as she followed Ocellus. The errand that the blue changeling promised to be short turned into a whole field trip across parts of the town, presenting places to Wist that she could care less about right now.

Wist was at first elated when Ocellus guided her to a schoolhouse, but felt egged on when the blue changeling revealed it to be a separate campus from the main school building. Ocellus explained that it once was an independent school that educated young foals of Ponyville, but merged with Starlight’s school a few years back that welcomed all juvenile creatures to develop their bonds at a young age. However, since Starlight Glimmer wasn’t there right now, this was all useless information to Wist.

Their next mark under Ocellus's errand led them to a flashy building with a large gamepad placed atop it. Strange how Wist could've missed this. Then again, all these buildings appeared exotic in their own excessive way.

Ocellus pointlessly informed Wist that this building is a renown game corner that many young creatures of Ponyville gather to play in. The owner happens to be dating one of Ocellus's associates at the school. Wist would find it more enjoyable to meet this mare at that school then gush about her relationship.

…Why is an adult showing a minor a nightclub? Wist had to admit that the place looked tempting, but she had other things on her mind right now.

Is this really turning into a field trip? So what this place was founded by a famous DJ that hosted parties across Equestria and beyond? What does that have to do with the errand?

"Are we there yet!?” Wist voiced behind the blue changeling. “So far you’ve been lugging me around this place instead of finishing this _errand_ you mentioned.”

“Don’t worry Wist,” Ocellus. “It’s just around the corner.” Her words proved truthful as Wist awed at a surreal building that looked to be made of literal pastries.

“Is that a house?” Wist wondered.

“It’s also a bakery,” Ocellus added. “The Sugarcube Corner to be exact. Let’s go in, I’m sure the Cake twins have prepared the cake. Since you were patient with me, I think I'll buy you some sweets.”

“You better,” Wist voiced. “I didn’t ask for an overview of the whole place.”

Ocellus was kind of enough to open the door to the building for Wist, but before the green mare could enter the building, a sudden yellow blur lurched upon the mare and toppled her to the ground. Wist immediately lifted the figure off her with her hooves and bore her fangs. Though, her ferocity abruptly quelled when she realized that she was holding a yellow filly above her.

The innocent filly giggled atop the befuddled mare, which earned the filly a chuckle from Wist.

“Lil’ Cheese,” Ocellus voiced. “That’s not a normal way to greet creatures.”

“It’s okay Ocelly,” Wist perked to a new voice. A pink mare emerged from the building and then grabbed hold of Lil’ Cheese when the yellow filly reached out for her. “She doesn’t seem to mind the surprise, don’t you?”

“I'd be lying if I said I didn't find any amusement," Wist admitted as she raised back on her hooves. The green mare then glanced at the happy filly gazing at her and then the pink mare. "Um, is she yours?"

“Yuppie ducky,” the pink mare confirmed with a smile. “Her name is Lil’ Cheese. She's always brimming with energy. Kind of work the nerves of her foalsitters, but I wouldn't want her in any other way.”

"I think my mom is the same way," Wist smiled. "Though, she made it difficult for herself to admit it." Wist's eyes met the filly again, which prompted the filly to extend her hooves toward the green mare.

Pinkie noted her daughter's movements. “You want to hold her?” the pink mare offered.

“You sure?" Wist raised a brow. "I mean, I'm just a complete stranger to you. Aren't mothers supposed to be defensive against creatures they don't know?"

"I don't see why not," Pinkie shrugged. "Lil' Cheese likes you; that's all I need to know."

"Well," Wist started. She was a bit taken back by this mare's forwardness. "Since you're offering…"

Pinkie brought her daughter to Wist's hooves as the green mare seemed shaky with her hooves. Ocellus seemed befuddled by this and felt compelled to ask. "Is your first time holding a child?"

"She…feels more fragile than I imagined." Lil' Cheese pecked her snout upon Wist's, goading the green mare the press hers in return.

Ocellus couldn't help but chuckle at the innocence between the two ponies. But then a thought came back to her, "Oh, that's right. Pinkie, do you have the cake Starlight ordered?"

"Starlight?" Wist perked her ears at the name.

"Well of course I do," Pinkie confirmed and then suddenly disappeared into the building and back out in a span of a second. The motion looked so unnatural from what Wist has ever seen. "Still fresh and boxed like I had it an hour ago. I can't wait for Luster's First Day of School party, I'm going to pull all the stops for her."

"I wouldn't go that far," Ocellus said as she floated the boxed cake before her with her magic. "Despite how spirited she shows herself to be, I can tell Luster is anxious around others. If I heard right, she didn't have that much friends back at her previous school." 

“Now that’s a surprise,” Pinkie voiced. “You figured Twily, the Princess of Friendship, would have students do friendship, don't ya think?”

“I think it’s because the curriculum at her school did not change much from how Princess Celestia managed it. I mean, the School for Gifted Creatures is only limited to creatures that excel in magic.”

“That’s nice and all,” Wist voiced as she lowered Lil’ Cheese to the ground. The filly then hopped and skipped around the field. “But I do have a meeting with Starlight that I need to go to.”

Pinkie gasped and spoke, “Are you a new student as well?” Before Wist could answer, the pink mare lifted her and gave her a bear hug. “That means I got two first day parties I got to host. Oh, and two welcome parties. Maybe I should put them together and make a first-day-of-school-and-welcome-to-Ponyville party.”

“Title too long,” Wist gasped for air. “Also, can’t breathe.”

Pinkie let go of Wist and said, “I’m sorry about that. I’m just so excited to welcome so many new creatures.”

“You’re always excited though,” Ocellus voiced.

“Well duh,” Pinkie said matter-of-factly. “Cause it’s always nice to meet new creatures. There’s always new smiles and experiences to have with them.”

“New experiences…” Wist strangely pondered on those words. However, her thoughts were interrupted when Lil’ Cheese again leaped upon her and landed atop Wist’s head. “You really are brimming with energy. Maybe I should tucker you out.”

Wist lowered the filly before her and gave a devious grin. “I’m giving you a five second head start. After that, I’m gonna get ya.”

The yellow filly smiled gleefully and galloped away from her. Seeing that the small foal was faster than Wist initially expected, cartoonishly in fact, Wist decided to take back her promise and sprint off after her. “Come back here!” Wist cried as she chased off after the yellow filly.

“That Wist sure has a thing for Lil’ Cheese,” Pinkie commented. “Maybe I should have her foalsit her on occasions.”

“Pinkie Pie,” Ocellus's demeanor became serious. “Something is off about Wist.”

“What?" Pinkie wondered. "You mean the fact that she's a changeling in disguise?"

“...Yes,” Ocellus didn’t bother to ask how Pinkie knew. It’s just a Pinkie thing; something you don’t bother questioning. “But her magic is far more unusual from changelings. A normal changeling probably wouldn’t notice it unless they were searching for it hard enough. That’s probably why no other changelings have been looking her way.”

“Really? What’s so weird about Wist?”

“I’m not sure,” Ocellus admitted. “Her magic just feels to have some sort of great malevolence and darkness. It honestly spook me when I took notice of it. But when you look at her, it doesn’t really seem to be the case. At first, I thought she was just putting up an act. And yes, she is lying about her identity, but I don’t think she’s faking her attitude.”

“Woah, that is kind of strange." Pinkie admitted but smiled. "But I’m sure that she’s not here to cause trouble...well not that big of a kind.”

“You think so? Why do you say that?”

“Just take a look at her.” Pinkie pointed at Wist and Lil’ Cheese that appeared to be laughing about as they ran across the street. Wist finally managed to catch Lil’ Cheese and the green mare goaded in triumph. “Doesn’t she seem like a good bug in her heart?”

“I hope so," Ocellus sighed. "Things have been peaceful at Ponyville for quite some years. I would like for all of us to just stay happy like this."

"Oh Ocelly," Pinkie chuckled. "You're so adorable when you're serious."

"But this is serious," Ocellus voiced quietly for Wist not to hear. "She's unlike anything I've sensed and I don't mean it in a good way. There's obviously something dark within her. I just hope she doesn't direct it at any creature."

"Then it's a good thing she has you for a teacher." Pinkie noted her daughter and Wist laughing loudly as the green mare hoisted the filly high. "Lil' Cheese really does like her. Hey Ocelly, think I can borrow Wist on occasions?"

"Um, maybe when she's no longer a potential threat to the town."

"Hey," Ocellus perked her ears to Wist's voice. The green mare returned to her with the yellow filly bouncing on Wist's back. "Are we going anytime soon? Starlight isn't going to stick around at the school forever, is she?"

"R-right," Ocellus said. "I did get what I came for, so our next stop would be at the school."

"Finally," Wist voiced. "For a moment there I thought you were stalling for time."

"What?" Ocellus widened her eyes. "Me? Noooo…" Pinkie cringed at how badly Ocellus was feigning ignorance. You'd think all changelings would be adept in deception, but apparently Ocellus was too innocent for those sorts of things.

"... So, are we going?"

* * *

Starlight entered her office with a sigh and took her seat before her desk. She was happy to hear how Luster was ecstatic to learn all the complexities of friendship that turned Starlight's life for the better. And it's an honor that her mentor and Princess entrusted her to teach Luster those valuable lessons. But…she was hoping for more.

Starlight wondered if she was being too selfish. But it felt only right to follow in Princess Twilight's hoofstep; just as she followed from her mentor, Princess Celestia.

"Peers, huh," Starlight sighed. She knew that Luster said it with good intentions, but honestly, it was disheartening to her hope. If only Starlight could have one of her very own--

The door to the office suddenly opened and a blue mare garnered in a formal attire appeared. "Starlight," the mare voiced. "There you are. Trixie has been looking for you."

"If it's about Luster, she's in class with Applebloom. I think I've bought enough time for Smolder and Silverstream to prepare the surprise."

"Hm?" Trixie tilted her head. "Oh that! That's not what Trixie is here for."

"Can it wait then?" Starlight asked. "I need a moment alone."

"Trixie cannot allow that. It's rude enough to have the Princess wait this long."

Before Starlight could ask, her mentor and Princess, Twilight Sparkle entered the room. "I'm sorry if this is an inconvenient time," the Princess apologized. "But I'm here for a serious matter."

"Princess Twilight!" Starlight immediately raised from her seat. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. Yes, please, come in."

"We can skip the formalities, Starlight," Twilight said and took a seat on the opposite end of Starlight's desk. “We have a far more important matter to discuss.”

“Well I hope that important matter justifies having the humbled and generous Trixie to serve as an errand filly.” Trixie said as she walked to Starlight’s side. “We already have Ocellus for that, today.”

“Where is Sunburst?” Twilight asked. “I was hoping he would be with you so I can tell the three of you at once.”

“He’s been called to the Crystal Empire again,” Starlight informed. “Flurry Heart is falling behind in her studies in magic again. And we both know how productive she gets when Sunburst is her tutor.”

“But why only him?” Twilight complained. “When I offered my assistance, I really hoped it would give me more time to bond with my niece, but she ended up spacing out during our session.”

“C’mon Twilight,” Starlight grinned. “You know why she’s more focused when _he’s_ around.”

“...No,” Twilight said. “I don’t approve of that. She should be looking for ponies of her own age.”

“That’s for Flurry and her parents to decide," Starlight said. Besides, it’s not like Sunburst is aware of her advances. He may be one the smartest pony there is, but he’s also really dense when it comes to complicated emotions.”

“Trixie can’t see it,” Trixie sighed. “Flurry Heart is a princess. Any stallion would fawn over her. Why would she be fixated on a pony as plain and nerdy as him?”

“We can gossip about that later,” Starlight said. “What’s this important news you needed to tell us, Twilight?”

Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled to calm her nerves. “There’s been the arrival of a Changeling Queen in Equestria. She says her name is Wisteria. She’s very young, but has a destructive personality that has already harmed fractions of creatures in Equestria.”

“A changeling queen!?” Starlight was alarmed. “I thought there was only one.”

“As did I and Thorax,” Twilight said. “But her existence shows that there may be other hives across the lands. But more importantly, Thorax and I have teamed our forces to find her, but she has managed to elude our guards and even us. And now, there’s a possibility that she may be here in Ponyville.”

“Here!?” Trixie slammed on Starlight’s desk. “You’re saying that this fiend is already sneaking about in our home? No, no, no, Trixie can’t do this again.”

“Calm down Trixie,” Starlight placed a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “I’m sure Twilight has come up with a solution.”

“I’m doing my best,” Twilight said. “But she’s been frighteningly clever in avoiding my reach. I have reinforced Ponyville and nearby settlements with platoons of guards to find her, but I’m afraid they won’t have much luck.”

“Are you telling Trixie that there’s no hope!? Trixie needs assurance to calm her mind.”

“If this Changeling Queen can hide from Thorax’s guards," Starlight started. "Then there has to be particular magic she’s coating herself in to prevent herself from being sensed.”

“Then that’s it,” Trixie made a hopeful smile. “We figure out the spell she's using and then flush her out for the taking.”

“Unfortunately, that won’t be possible if I don’t have a single clue what her magic is. We’d have to find her first. Unless...Twilight, do you have any idea what magic she may be using?”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “I didn’t get the chance to study her magic. She caught Thorax and I by surprise when we cornered her. Thorax might have an idea, but he’s in recovery right now.”

“Thorax is hurt?” Starlight widened.

“Thorax was drugged,” Twilight answered. “But he doesn’t have any injuries. He just needs some rest.”

“What did this changeling drug him with?”

“With Devil’s Dust.”

Starlight sighed. “So, we have a Changeling Queen in Equestria that’s also in possession of the Devil’s Dust.”

“Until she’s in custody, I need for you and other trusted creatures to stay vigilant. Don’t tell every creature about this else it will raise hysteria. The royal guards will help the best they can.”

“And what about you, Twilight?”

“I have to visit the other settlements. They’re in a similar danger as Ponyville.”

“I get it, the Princess has to protect every creature of Equestria. Not just Ponyville.”

“Which is why I need you to do so in my place if I’m not here in time.”

“This is rather inconvenient news,” Starlight said. “But I promise that me and our friends will do our part to protect Ponyville.”

“I know you will,” Twilight said. She then raised back to her hooves and began her exit from the room. “I’ll be heading to the town hall to share this news with Mayor Pip Squeak. I hope for your safety, Starlight.”

Starlight nodded as Twilight left the room. A bright purple light that flashed from the opening of the closing door indicated to her that Twilight had left the building.

“Starlight,” Trixie voiced. “What’re we going to do? Trixie can’t deal with rabid changelings again. Trixie still hasn’t gotten over when they swarmed Trixie when they were following under Chrysalis. It was so dark and prickly!”

“We can only do what we can,” Starlight sighed. “Tell all of our teachers of what’s going on. They may be able to pick out any students that might be acting out of character.”

“Trixie guess that’s a start,” Trixie admitted. “Okay, Trixie will inform every teacher as fast as the speed of light.” Trixie hurried out of the room, leaving Starlight in her lonesome.

She remained before her desk, contemplating why this changeling has come here and what she could possibly do to stop her. Inevitably, nothing useful came to mind. Only memories of her bout with Chrysalis. The only Changeling Queen she thought to exist that rejected her hoof of friendship.

Twilight mentioned that this changeling was young. Perhaps her ideals are not as stapled as another queen she knew. Maybe this time may be different. Perhaps all that changeling needs is a little guidance. Maybe she can be her...

Starlight frowned at herself. “I’ve become so desperate over these years. I may be a Headmare, but maybe I was never meant for my own pupil. I should be happy with what I have now…”


	5. Mom?

When Wisteria came to the School of Friendship, she knew to expect a crowd, but to still see such a vast throng of young creatures trotting around these halls left her a bit unnerved. Were all of these creatures zealous of friendship as Ocellus?... Who is she kidding? Wist considered it best not to roam around for too long else they have her all rah-rah for friendship as well.

“So what do you think about our school?” Ocellus asked the unsettled mare. “We teach everything from the cores of friendship to the studies of various skills collected from all the lands from Equestria and beyond.”

“Wait,” Wist perked at the blue changeling's latter statement. “You teach things besides friendship!?”

“Well, yes." Ocellus said matter-of-factly. "Friendship is something we hope for creatures to aspire to, but there have to be places where it can be applied to.”

“Yeah,” Wist tilted her head. “I’m not following where you’re going with this.”

“Think of it like this: friendship gifts harmony. Harmony gifts unity where all creatures can work together by resolving their conflicts. And in daily life, it improves teamwork and encourages creatures to become whatever they wish to.”

“Teamwork and validation then,” Wisteria sighed. “Not sure I get the whole value in it. I think I’ve been doing pretty well on my own.”

“Is that true?” Ocellus gave a worried glance at the mare. "You've been on your own?"

“Okay, I wasn’t always on my own. I did have a pair of caretakers, but they don’t count as friends. They’re other than that.”

“Sounds like it was more," Ocellus happily suggested. "Well, I’d be happy to enlighten you about friendship if you’d like.”

“Thanks but no thanks,” Wisteria whisked a hoof. “I’m only here for Starlight Glimmer. So, where is she exactly?”

“At this hour, Headmare Starlight is likely in her office right about now,” Ocellus answered. “But how about we hide that cake away before a certain mare catches a glance of it.” Ocellus pointed at the cake that she had Wist lug around on her back. Its brightening glaze caught the eyes of many students, but Ocellus kindly turned them away. Less stress on Wist's part. If it was left to her, she would've lashed at them with a small hint of a hex. Nothing like magic to solve all of your problems.

“You said she’s occupied with this class thing you spoke of,” Wist pointed out. “We should have plenty of time.”

“It’ll ease Starlight’s mind if she knows it’s well and hidden.”

“Ugh," Wist groaned. "So we’re going for another detour?”

“Don’t worry Wist, I promise it’ll be the last.”

Ocellus and Wist traveled the halls and reached a door that led to an office. Wist noticed pictures of Ocellus with groups of numerous creatures and also a tall green...isn’t that Thorax?

“Hey, who’s the green bug in that picture?” Wist asked Ocellus as she set the cake on the blue changeling’s desk.

“Oh, that’s Thorax. He’s the leader of the changeling hive in Equestria. He’s a little awkward at times, but he’s very caring and firm when he needs to be. I should introduce you to him when we get the time.”

“Is that so?” Wist guessed that makes sense given how her bout with him played out. Still, it’s quite astonishing he turned into such a massive dragon. The other changelings she drugged never reached that kind of height. “Well, since we dropped off the cake, that means we can finally go and see Starlight. C’mon, you’ve already had me waiting long enough.”

“I’m sure you could’ve gone to her anytime if you wished to.” Ocellus said as she took a seat before her desk. Wist paused at that response and raised a brow at the changeling. “When you followed me on my errand, I noticed that you would take constant glances at another direction. Those glances always seemed to line towards the School of Friendship. Changelings have the ability to focus their smell on a specific love of a creature, but it’s something that one would have to train themselves to master. Usually, that role would go to foragers.”

“So you knew then?”

“I did,” Ocellus nodded. “But I didn’t want to say because I was worried about how you would react. Though I do have to ask, why did you go along with my errand if you can track Starlight?”

“Does that really matter at the moment?” Wisteria gave Ocellus a keen look. There was a hidden intensity in Wist’s eyes that Ocellus sensed.

“Wist,” Ocellus started. “I didn’t bring you in here to trap you. I just want to talk with you.”

“And I don’t want any creature to know I’m in disguise. Sounds kind of difficult if there’s one that knows walking around, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know why you came here and why you’re looking for Starlight, but I saw from how you acted with Lil’ Cheese that you’re not a bad changeling. Whatever you have against Starlight, I’m sure we can sort it all out.”

“If I wanted your help, I would’ve asked. What I want is for no creature to get in my way.” Green flames suddenly emerged around the green mare as the form before Ocellus turned to ash, revealing a black changeling with a glimmering green mane.

Ocellus widened at the changeling’s appearance. “A queen changeling?” Wist did not provide Ocellus a chance to react as she quickly cast a blue wisp upon her. The wisp entered the blue changeling and then she faltered and felt her pectoral before glancing at Wisteria again. “What? What did you do to me?” 

Wisteria grinned. “While I’m with Starlight, you’re going to behave yourself by taking a good nap. By the time you wake up, I should already have what I want.”

Ocellus let out a yawn as she struggled to keep her head craned above her desk. “No...Wist, it doesn’t have to be this way.”

Wisteria shushed the older changeling by placing a hoof onto Ocellus’s lip as Wist gently rubbed upon the back of Ocellus’s neck. Wist’s touch felt strangely calming, tricking Ocellus’s body to relax as it seemed inevitable that slumber would claim her. “You’re a very kind creature, Ocellus, but you should know, too much of that can make one gullible. I had to learn that lesson the hard way.”

When Ocellus finally succumbed to her slumber, Wist changed back into her pony form and made her way out of the office. But before she left, she took one last glance at the sleeping changeling. “You know, I didn’t really hate your little errand…”

She then paused for a moment before shaking her head. There was no point dwelling on it anymore. She’s already made her move, now it’s time to see it through.

Wisteria carefully opened the door, cautious of students that may look her way. When she shut the door, her nose went awry for that scent. She’s still here.

* * *

“Hmm,” Luster mumbled to herself as her classmates raised from their seats and made their way out of class. Her class with Ms. Applebloom had concluded, but Luster was left baffled throughout the course of her lecture. Not of the content of the lesson, no, but of its purpose.

Luster was to last to raise from her seat as Ms. Applebloom was erasing the markings she made on the chalkboard. Ms. Applebloom turned to meet Luster’s way when her student called for her.

“Ms. Applebloom,” Luster started.

“Luster Dawn, right?” Applebloom responded. “Starlight did say you a bit of a bookworm. Come to ask for some more answered questions I reckon.”

“I won’t deny that,” Luster admitted. “There are plenty of things that caught my attention in your lecture. But my main question would be, how does it all matter to friendship?”

“Is that what’s been eatin at ya?” Applebloom asked. 

“Well, it’s a bit difficult for me to link friendship with potion-making. Where would a creature attempt to apply the concept?”

“Likely never,” Applebloom answered. “But I think it's a fun topic to teach creatures who are interested and the course does encourage student collaborations for upcoming projects. You see where friendship plays now, don’t ya?”

“I’ve done potion-making before, but never with another pony. I hope I can find some creature that can keep up with me.”

“Well aren’t you confident in your skills,” Applebloom smiled. “If that’s the case, you’re going to have to learn to be patient with others and learn to divide responsibilities..”

“How would I even begin to do that!?” Luster faltered. “I don’t even know any of my classmates. We haven’t even established friendship yet.”

“This would be a great opportunity wouldn’t it?”

“Um, okay, so, the first thing I should do then is...um…”

“I’m right here if you have any questions?” Applebloom pointed out.

“I think I need a visual example of this.” 

“I’ll do ya one better,” Applebloom walked to a long desk that stood before her teacher’s desk. On it was variants of chemicals and tools that she had utilized for today’s lecture. “Let’s concoct a potion together.”

“A practical example would stand more beneficial," Luster rubbed her chin. "Alright then, what are we making then?”

“Well, since you’re likely ahead of all of my students in this subject, we could go for a more intermediate product. Let’s see, based on what we have here...” Applebloom then clapped her hooves. “I know, how about we spruce ourselves a love potion?”

“Love potion?” Luster’s cheeks held a red blemish. “W-we’re not planning on using this, aren’t we?”

“Course not,” Applebloom waved a hoof. “Forcing love on others is wrong. It just takes me back is all.”

“You have a history with that kind of potion?”

“Yeah…” Applebloom rubbed the back of her head. “Not something I'm really proud of, but it was a very insightful lesson.”

“I see,” Luster walked to Applebloom’s side. “So where do we begin?”

* * *

“So it’s as I feared,” Twilight sighed as she loomed over the mare on a stretcher. Just when Twilight concluded her meeting with Mayor Pipsqueak, news of an incident at a market was addressed to the two of them. 

Twilight was anxious about what she might find and to her dismay, it turned out to be her worst-case scenario.

“Diamond,” Silver Spoon rushed to Diamond Tiara’s side. “Please tell me you’re going to be alright?”

Diamond managed to halfway open her eyes as she tried to give her friend an assuring smile. “It’s okay...I’m...tired.” Her eyes shut again and she appeared to have fallen asleep.

“What happened to her?” Silver Spoon asked the Princess.

“Princess Twilight,” Gallus approached the Princess. “We both realize whose work this may have been, right?”

“Some creature did this to Diamond!?” Silver Spoon was alarmed. “Who was it? That creature is going to get a mouthful out of me!”

“Calm yourself Silver,” Twilight placed a hoof on Silver’s shoulder. “Your place should be with Diamond. Don’t worry, her condition is not severe in any sort. She’s just fatigued, that is all.”

Silver looked back to her sleeping friend and then nodded at the Princess, “You’re right Princess. It’s just such a shame. We had plans with Twist to discuss the opening of her candy store. Today was supposed to be its opening event, and now we have to postpone it because of this.”

“I’m sorry for this inconvenience,” Twilight said. “When this issue has been resolved, I promise that the perpetrator and I will do our best to make this up to you.”

“Are you saying you plan to endorse Twist’s candy store?” Silver widened her eyes. “That is guaranteed to attract customers. Diamond might think of this as a good enough tradeoff.”

“Well before any of that, how about seeing to your friend's recovery.”

“Yes Princess,” Silver bowed and then left with a group of ponies that escorted Diamond to the hospital. 

Mayor Pipsqueak, who was observing from the sideline, then approached the Princess. “She’s here, isn’t she?”

“There’s no other way to explain this,” Twilight said. “There hasn’t been any other creature that shares this kind of M.O. since Chrysalis had led the hive.”

“What do we do?” Mayor Pipsqueak asked in a lower tone, cautious of the neighboring ponies that viewed the incident from afar. “Increasing the number of guards even more than you suggested earlier would no doubt cause concerns. It would likely get this changeling to leave town.”

“Not to worry,” Twilight assured. “Since we now know she’s here, this is a great opportunity to try out this artifact that I had Moondancer to personally craft for me.”

Twilight withdrew a green string from her saddlebag.

"That's an artifact?" Mayor Pipsqueak wondered.

"I know it's not all that impressive, but this string should lead me to her with the remnant of magic she left upon her previous victims. She appears to be adept at inserting emotions into others. Terrifying as that might be, it does take time for that spell to dissipate. More than enough time for me to extract."

"Princess," Gallus voiced. "If that is the case, then why haven't you been using it?"

"This tool is a rush job on Moondancer's part. She guarantees that it will work, but she also said that it's so fragile that it will shatter after an hour of use. Plus, its range is not particularly great. So, I only get one chance until Moondancer can make another.

"Then I will believe you will find this Wisteria." Mayor Pipsqueak concluded. "But going by what you said about your encounter with her, my mind would be in a lot more ease if another alicorn was here."

"Luna was a great teacher to you in the matters of politics and leadership, but we should be understanding that she no longer holds that obligation to be wary anymore."

"I know Princess, but she still visits Ponyville quite often. I just wished it was conventionally at this time."

"If we're done talking about your favorite Princess," Gallus voiced. "We have a dangerous changeling on the loose that we should take care of."

"You are right," Twilight nodded. "The threat has to be contained before anything else. Mayor Pipsqueak, I suggest you have creatures return to their homes, but don't tell them the true reason as to why."

"Or else Wisteria catches wind and will escape," Mayor Pipsqueak said. "Got it." The stallion headed to the group of creatures watching from the sideline and spoke to them.

Princess Twilight held one end of the string and walked about until she could get a reaction from the string. A few yards away from Diamond's market, the green string glinted and perked towards a direction.

"Got a hit?" Gallus asked.

"I do," Twilight confirmed. "Let's hurry before the string dies. I don't want Wisteria to complicate things more than she already has."

* * *

Wisteria let out a yawn as she continued walking through the halls. For some odd reason, Wisteria feels as if she's been walking in circles. 

Starlight's scent is prevalent wherever she went in this school, making Wisteria anxious if she can pinpoint the mare's exact location.

This was rattling the changeling's mind. It shouldn't be this hard. She's already done it plenty of times in the past. Why is it different with her?

"..." Wisteria didn't like the conclusions she thought of. There's a chance…that she's letting her senses go awry. She's able to tweak it if she's like, but at most times it's just to save herself from boredom.

If that's what is going on, then does that mean Wist is just prolonging her meeting with the mare?...No, no, no, she couldn't be nervous. That wouldn't make sense. She's already so close. She should be ecstatic…

"Looks like it's a success," Wisteria perked her ears at a voice. She filled it to a door that revealed two mares. And before them was a table full of--

Wisteria burst into the room, alarming the two mares. "Are you two making potions!?"

"Uh," Applebloom started. "We were. But we're done now."

Wisteria approached the table and observed all of the tools and ingredients propped atop it. She can make sorts of spells with this stuff. Especially with rainbow flows. That stuff is nearly impossible for her to extract.

Her eyes then dawned upon a vial with a thick pink liquid. "Did you guys make a love potion?"

"Huh?" Luster was shocked. "How do you know? It's near impossible to comprehend a potion without an appraisal spell."

"Well, it's not all that impossible," Applebloom voiced. "You just need to have good eyes. And I'm thinkin this miss has a good pair as well."

"If you two are finished," Wist started. "Think I can have a chance to craft some stuff?"

"Students are not allowed to craft potions alone," Applebloom said. "It has to be a party of at least two around for it to be permitted."

"For real?" Luster and Wisteria voiced.

"Yes, for real. Some creature has to be around if something goes wrong. But that's beside the point right now. I've already stuck around long enough. I should really be going to my office."

"Wait, Ms. Applebloom," Luster voiced. "I would like to see what this mare is capable of. She sounds to be quite good with crafting potions."

"That's because I am," Wist proudly said. "I've basically been doing it for my whole life."

"Then I think we should compare our talents," Luster said. "This could be a good learning experience for both of us."

"This would meet the requirement of that rule," Wisteria considered.

"Okay," Applebloom waved a hoof. "I'm happy that you two are passionate about this topic, but you two are still new students to this school." Applebloom glanced at Wist. "And I don't think I've met you before, so you gotta be new as well. What's your name?"

"It's Wist. And if you're going to keep saying stuff like that, then you might as well stick around."

"Wha?" Applebloom faltered. "But I can't. I have documents in my office to file out."

"Please don't go Ms. Applebloom," Luster grabbed onto Applebloom's hoof. "Don't you think this is a great opportunity for friendship for me?"

"T-true…," Applebloom admitted. Luster and this Wist character do happen to share a similar passion. This could be the friend that Luster needs to break into things here at School. But... Applebloom shouldn't be neglectful of her other duties.

Applebloom's ears perked when she heard a lock click. Her eyes tracked to the door where Wist stood. "Then it's decided then."

"Wait, now hold on a minute! I--"

"Ooh," Luster clapped her hooves. "This is going to be so much fun."

"Now, where should we begin?" Wist wondered as she returned to the table.

"We have to try something unique. You've studied potion-making your whole life, so there have to be some rare products that you know."

"I have many I can think of," Wist confirmed. "Hmm, how about we try a hair growth spell."

"Isn't that the same as doing mane magic?"

"I'm not sure how that works in horn magic, but brewing a potion to do the same is fairly easy if you know the right measurement of ingredients."

"There's actually such a thing," Applebloom was astonished. "Rarity would be mighty interested in it if that really exists."

"So this intrigues you then?" Wist grinned.

Applebloom sighed. "I can't say I'm not anymore. I'm gonna be mighty late at Sweety Apple Acre for sure. I sure hope Big Sis doesn't get too riled about it."

"We need a list of the ingredients, Wist," Luster voiced. "I'll write it down for you."

  
  


“...”

“...”

“We’re not just going to stand here,” Smolder asked Ocellus. “Are we?”

“I think we should just wait,” Ocellus recommended. “Wist isn’t hurting any pony. And it looks like she’s enjoying herself.”

“But she’s still here for trouble if she has all that hate in her like you said she does.”

“It is concerning,” Ocellus admitted. She and her dragoness companion peered through the narrow window of the door to catch a glimpse of Wist with Luster Dawn and Applebloom. Ocellus had conveniently set off an alarm on a locket that Smolder gifted her that lets the dragoness know if she’s ever in need of help. Ocellus made sure to keep a hold of it in her drawer when she sat at her desk. Sensing that her talk with Wist was likely to fail, she needed to ensure that there was another creature around to be aware of the potential danger.

As soon as Wist had left, Smolder came into Ocellus’s office seconds later and woke the changeling. Tracking Wist was simple at that point now that she has become familiar with the scent of her emotions. But to think that Wist could be so easily distracted…

“Look,” Smolder said. “I’m going in there. I’m not going to risk this kid acting up here in my school”

“No Smolder, I think our best option is to bring Headmare Starlight here. She is who Wist is looking for after all.”

“Then you bring her. And while you’re at that, I’m going to hold her down.”

“But Luster and Applebloom are already doing that for us. Don’t you think you’d be endangering them if you stepped in?”

“It’s okay, I got this.”

“Smolder, you’re not listening. They’re...She’s...is she looking at us?” Ocellus backed from the door when she noticed Wist looking at their way. The disguised changeling looked unamused.

“No choice now, right?” Smolder stated as she broke through the door. “Hey!” 

As soon as Smolder bashed the door open, a green circle lit beneath the dragoness and released a black gas that enveloped around her. “What is this stuff?” Smolder masked her face, but she already breathed in the smoke before it quickly dissipated.

“Smolder,” Applebloom voiced as she tried to approach her.

“I wouldn’t get too close if I were you,” Wist informed. 

“Wist,” Ocellus spoke. “What did you do to Smolder?”

“Wait,” Luster voiced. “What’s going on?”

During their confusion, Smolder began to giggle and then sputter into a burst of uncontrollable laughter. The dragoness faltered to the ground, clenching upon her stomach. The dragoness gritted her teeth, trying her best but failing to hold in her voice.

Wist glanced upon a window in the classroom. She assumed if she simply flies to the highest floor of this building, she will likely find her.

“Stay right there Wist,” Ocellus told the disguised changeling. “You have to undo this.”

“Oh don't fret yourself,” Wist said. “What I gave her isn’t that strong. She won't cause more than a few...oh…" Wist widened at the emotions that were emanating wildly from the dragoness. "Ew, I don't be around to see that. I would've just thrown the love potion of I knew that would happen."

A green light emitted from Smolder's eyes as a toothy smile was plastered on her face.

With every creature now shocked by this, Wist transformed into a bird and soar out of the window. 

Ocellus attempted to pursue her, but Smolder grabbed her leg. Ocellus looked back to the dragoness and was appalled by the saliva slipping out of Smolder's mouth.

"Smolder," Ocellus struggled to escape Smolder's grip. "Please, you have to let me go." 

"Smolder…wants…Ocellus," Smolder said and then gleamed her face before Ocellus's. "Now!"

Ocellus was becoming more and more unnerved by Smolder's behavior. She attempts to cast a spell to make her escape. However, before the blue changeling could complete the spell, the dragoness crashed her lips upon Ocellus's own, surprising not only the blue changeling but the other two mares that bore witness.

"Luster," Applebloom voiced. "Close your eyes!"

"I…are they using tongue?" Luster's cheeks flushed red.

Applebloom rushed to cover the eyes of the enamored mare. "Dagnabbit you two," Applebloom leered at the two teachers. "Don't you two have any shame?"

Ocellus managed to push Smolder's face inches away from her. "She's not doing it on purpose," Ocellus shouted. "Help me get her to st-"

Ocellus's mouth was smothered again by Smolder that bore her claws into the ceramic floor, making her impervious to Ocellus's push, as the blue changeling's hindlegs dangled about.

"Smolder, stop that right now," Applebloom decided to leave Luster's side to try to pull Smolder back. "You're going to end up suffocating her."

Luster couldn't help but stand there in a stupor as she became witness to something quite scandalous. Her only movement was a brief turn to the window where the mysterious creature flew out of. What was that black smoke she trapped the dragoness in?

"Luster," Applebloom called. "We'd really appreciate it if you could give us a hoof here!"

* * *

Wist ascended to the highest floor of the school, looking through each of the windows to find Starlight. Wist was starting to get anxious that she made a bad call stopping to steal some potions. Well, at least she managed to snag a vial of rainbow flow on her way out. 

Still, she was peeved that she couldn't finish the hair growing potion. It does wonders to hold a creature in place.

"Wisteria!" Wist stopped at the sound of a familiar voice. Looking down behind her, Wist was surprised to be faced by the Princess again. 

Wist perched upon the branch of a tree to camouflage in the setting, but Twilight's gaze did not avert from the disguised changeling. At a closer look, Wist can see a strange green thread being held by the Princess's magic. One of its ends was pointing towards Wist.

"I know that's you, Wist," Twilight said. "You might as well come down. And don't think about setting your traps again."

Wist descended before the Princess and revealed her true form to Twilight. "How'd you find me?"

"Through a pony, you've already harassed. But that's beside the point. Wisteria, please stand down. You can't continue to do this to creatures."

"You've caught me at a bad time Princess," Wisteria said. "I'm already so close, there's no way I'm going to leave now."

"Not if it means sapping the love out of another creature."

"I don't know what I'll do," Wisteria confessed. "I just have to see her."

"So it is a creature," Twilight said. "But who do you know that lives in Ponyville?"

"Hey!" Wist shouted. "Don't you go extracting information out of me!" Wist's horn lit green as bunches of blue wisps emerged from her and shot towards Princess Twilight.

Though Twilight was startled by Wist's sudden reaction, she still evaded the wisps with ease. However, when she looked from behind herself, she saw the group of small blue flames turn the course and follow behind her.

"A hex spell," Twilight deduced. "But how is it following me?"

"Don't expect to get any more answers out of me," Wist said. "You're a smart mare; figure it out yourself." 

The wisps Wisteria summoned can passively act on its own since she has already placed a mark on Twilight. Every creature seems to be so oblivious of Wist's glyph spells.

With them, she has either the option to tag an item along with it to make contact upon whoever she sneaks it on or to tag a bullseye on them to make it easier for her spells to hit its target. It's inevitable for creatures to be tagged by her. After all, she has found a way to cast the spell without providing a hint with a glow. It's a unique camouflage spell she learned that she's only been able to apply to her glyphs. Just think how terrifying she'd be to approach her without knowing whether she's casting a spell or not.

Wist's snout suddenly flared and she secretly cast another glyph spell that motioned beneath the ground and went towards a nearby bush next to the school.

A blue griffin suddenly emerged from the bush and ascended above from Wist's glyph. "Guess it is impossible to mask my emotions from a Changeling Queen."

"This is getting nowhere," Wisteria groaned. "Will you two just leave me alone!?"

"Not until you've atoned for what you did to those creatures," Gallus scolded. "They were just going about their daily life, and you had the gall to muck up their day for a simple meal."

"Spare me the moral high ground," Wist rolled her eyes. "Life is never fair to others. Every creature is going to have bad days. If not me, then eventually something else."

"That's a pathetic excuse to make for harming creatures."

He's so lucky he's up there. If my glyph was just a few seconds faster, I'd have him eat his own words. And he would be enjoying every moment of it.

Princess Twilight shot a blue beam upon the wisps, dissipating specks of them away. Wisteria smacked her teeth at this. "So she knows a counterspell to my wisps then. And I can't really do much while she's in the air like that."

Wisteria hated to admit this, but she concluded that it's probably for the best that she makes her escape. With possession of only spells that alter emotions and only two last satchels of Devil's Dust, she doesn't have much to pick from to stop this alicorn. If Wist desires to find an opportunity alone with Starlight, she has no choice but to retreat and try again later.

"I was so close," Wisteria growled. Wist looked towards a forest from afar. Wherever it leads, it's better than being under the eyes of the Princess.

"Where do you think you're looking at?" Gallus said as he made a quick descent upon Wist.

"Oh, well thanks for making this easier for me." Wist had already pulled the glyph back to collect the Devil's Dust back into a satchel in her saddlebag. But, since the troublesome griffin is willing to approach her so stupidly, then she must oblige to give him his deserving punishment.

The glyph lit a dark light as it streamed black smoke around Wist. Gallus was surprised as he shot through the smoke and fell to the ground. 

The griffin coughed and heaved as he struggled and failed to pick himself back up. Wist wanted to wait for the eventual laughter, but it'd appear that the griffin was closer to losing his consciousness than anything else. Wist was unamused by this, but at least she can take solace that she made a fool of the griffin.

Wist smirked at the struggling griffin and then made her way to leave the school grounds. But just when she thought she was in the clear, a purple light briefly blinded the Changeling as she appeared before her.

"What in Equestria is going on out here!?" Starlight demanded.

"..."

"Hm?" Starlight noted Wist's presence and then widened her eyes in surprise. "You're a Changeling Queen. Then that would mean you're Wisteria."

"..."

"Why have you come here? You better not be here to hurt any of my students."

"..."

"Hey, are you going to say anything?"

"..."

Starlight was befuddled by the blank face on this Changeling. It's almost as if her entire body had shut down. Starlight looked at her surroundings and noticed Gallus and Twilight's predicament.

Her eyes tracked back to Wisteria and took a step towards her. Though she may be a queen, Starlight stood the same height as her. That probably means that she's still growing. That's right, she's still young.

"Look," Starlight started. "I don't know what sort of problems you may be dealing with that led you to act this way with others, but I can help you if you like. Just undo the spells you've cast and we can go to my office and have a talk, alright?"

"..."

"It'd be nice if you could say something," Starlight said.

"...Mom?"

"Uuh, what?"

Before Starlight could ask the Changeling to expand on her words, Twilight suddenly tackled Wist from the side. 

"Hey!" Wist had snapped to her senses and tried to leer at the Princess that constricted her body behind Wist. "Let me go!"

"I'm so sorry about this," Twilight apologized. "But I'm not dodging these flames all day."

At the mention of flames, Wist became aware of the incoming wisps that Wisteria had honed towards Twilight.

"That's going to hit both of us!" Wisteria warned as she continued to try to shake Twilight off of her. "Get off of me!"

Failing to remove the Princess, Wisteria decided to undo the incoming wisps, but then she felt the Princess's horn touch her own. Whatever magic the Princess surged into Wist, it was completely ruining her concentration. 

"You're crazy!" Wisteria shouted. Wist resolved to gnaw the Princess off of her, but she already lost too much time. The first row of wisp shot into Wisteria, and then the others that followed flowed past her and entered the Princess.

Wisteria widened her eyes in surprise of what just happened. To think that she would be bested by a creature with her own magic. Poison would be so disappointed in her…

Twilight fell to the ground as Wisteria followed suit atop the Princess. Their eyes were half-lidded as Wist felt the Princess place a hoof over her. Determined to hold her down till the very end.

Starlight rushed before them and spoke, What just happened? You two are going to be fine, right?"

"Wist," Twilight yawned. "Casted sleeping wisps upon me. With this many…I'm certain we'll be immobile for a few days...I leave things to you, Starlight…"

Twilight's head fell to the ground and succumbed to slumber. Wist on the other hoof clenched her teeth and hissed. She tried her hardest to fight the slumber back, but she knew deep down that this was a fruitless struggle.

Starlight startled the sleepy Changeling when she crouched before her and held her face up when a hoof. "It's okay Wisteria," Starlight spoke softly to her. "I'm going to keep you safe. So just rest."

What are these emotions that were surging inside of Wist? Such hatred, such longing, such bliss. How in Abyssinia is she supposed to describe this?

Wist's head rubbed upon Starlight's hoof. Did she do that on purpose? It sort of felt instinctual. Like something she wanted to do for a long time, but something was always blocking her way. Her way to feel her mother's touch.


	6. School Admission

Wist waited for a long time for Poison to come back. The time felt endless as she stood at their ruined cabin through the suns and moons for her to arrive. She didn’t want to miss the moment of her return, but there were inevitable moments of hunger that Wist had to attend to by foraging the forest for love and berries. And whenever she returned to the cabin, she hoped that she would finally find Poison standing with hefty blocks of wood to enforce Wist to do labor with. She only found charred wood that was the remains of her home.

At night, Wist would seek shelter beneath the unmarred floorboards. Each night, it seemed that the darkness only got eerier with the shifts of leaves and cries of critters that resounded in the dark. It pricked the small changeling with a daunting feeling that something was always watching her.

At first, Wist thought she was going hysterical because she was getting impatient with Poison. But, when she took a peek out of the floorboard one night, she could have sworn she saw a misty being within the slim glimmer of the moonbeam. For only a small moment, their eyes had met. The creature’s eyes seemed hollowed out as if there was only a black void inside. Wist widened her eyes in utter horror as she immediately retreated under the floorboard and enshrouded her body in her tarnished sheets.

She never managed to find it again through the onward nights, but she couldn’t help but think that it was still there, somewhere observing her from the distance. Wist truly wanted to believe that her mind was playing tricks with her, but couldn’t find a way to dissuade herself. She needed her mother’s voice to assure her. She needed Poison.

How long does Wist have to wait for it? How long does she have to wait to see her again? She wanted her now. She needed her now. “Mom…” Wist uttered as her sight became rippled by her tears. And then it was followed by pitch blackness.

* * *

Wist’s body shuffled about before her eyes eventually opened to beaming sunlight. Wist shielded her eyes with a hoof and groaned as she picked her body on her haunch. An impulsive need to stretch her body overwhelmed the changeling as she relished in the crackles of her bones.

Her sight then finally set upon her surroundings, which only left the changeling baffled. Everywhere she looked, she saw crystals that gleamed annoyingly at her thanks to the accursed sunlight. She also happened to find herself atop some sort of roundtable also made of crystals. 

Wist made an attempt to hop off of the object but was stopped when her head bumped upon an invisible wall. Wist craned her head and hissed at the brief pain. When she recollected herself, Wist placed a hoof forward and touched upon the strange wall again. It didn’t appear she was touching anything, but she did notice ripples reverberating around her hoof.

“A barrier?” Wist wondered. 

Before Wist could have pondered more upon this phenomenon, a large door that stood before her suddenly opened. What came before it was a blue mare that appeared to be pushing a service cart inside. “Ugh,” the blue mare groaned. “Why does Trixie have to feed the menacing imp? Trixie is supposed to be the kind and insightful guidance counselor, not some nursemaid. Trixie ought to—yipe!” 

Trixie startled back when her eyes met upon the confused changeling. Wist had been observing the mare complain to herself as she strolled the cart her way without giving the changeling a single glance. 

“Hi,” Wist waved a hoof at the spooked mare. “So, are you the one that put me here?”

Trixie hid behind the stroller, craning her head down to the floor. “Why is she awake?” Wist overheard the mare panicking in her fruitless attempt of whispers. “Nopony said she was going to wake up today. Why did Starlight pick Trixie of all ponies to deal with this?”

“Starlight,” Wist perked at the name. “You know Starlight Glimmer? You gotta tell me where she is. I need to find her.”

“Oh no,” Trixie voiced as she backed away from Wist. “Trixie won’t have any part of this. This is Starlight’s problem, not mine.”

“Hey!” Wist unfurled her wings. “Don’t go running away from me.” Wist’s eyes then dawned upon the steaming bowl of a yellow liquid before returning to the steadily retreating mare. “You supposed to feed me, aren’t you?”

“No way,” Trixie declined. “There is no way Trixie is going near you. Trixie knows what you did to the others. You won’t be having Trixie as your next conquest of meals.”

“I promise I won’t bite,” Wist tried to sound sincere. “Just don’t go, okay?”

“...” Trixie looked back at the exit and then towards the changeling that confused her with a glum face. How can such a menace make such a woeful expression? Trixie couldn’t believe that her heart was actually taking pity upon this changeling. The troubled mare stood in place briefly, weighing her options, trying her best to persuade herself to play the smart move and leave...but…

Trixie sighed and gritted her teeth. “If you so much dare try something funny on Trixie, Trixie will make you regret it.”

Wist simply nodded as the blue mare hesitantly returned to the table. Trixie’s horn illuminated in a pink light that slathered upon the invisible wall. Trixie then picked the bowl of soup with a rag and carefully placed the bowl through her slathered magic and set it before the observant changeling. 

“You’re sloppy with magic,” Wist commented. “Aren’t you?”

“You’re in no place to make judgments of others,” Trixie harrumphed as she pulled her hooves away. Once her magic had dissipated from her horn, so did her slathered pink magic. Wist prodded her hoof where Trixie’s used to be and confirmed that the portion of the invisible wall was back in place. “Now eat,” Trixie demanded. “Trixie is going to inform Starlight that her guest is awake.”

“Wait,” Wist placed both of her hooves upon the barrier. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”

“Trixie was only told to bring the menace food,” Trixie stated. “Trixie has no other reason to stick around. Besides, this is already cutting into Trixie’s free time.”

“But what about Starlight? Where is she?”

“Starlight will come to you” Trixie answered. “What’s the point of telling you when she’ll be here soon enough? Trixie imagined you would be more curious about what happened when you lost to the Princess.”

“I didn’t lose!” The pitch of Wist’s voice briefly rose. “She just caught me off guard, that’s all.”

“Isn’t that how you fight?” Trixie raised a brow. “Trixie knows what you did to Thorax. It seems to Trixie that you got a taste of your own medicine.”

“Whatever,” Wist crossed her hooves. “You’re just biased towards your beloved Princess.”

Trixie chuckled at Wist’s response, confusing the changeling. “Oh please, Trixie kisses the hooves of no Princess. Trixie will have you know that she was once the rival of Princess Twilight.”

“Was that official or just something you tell yourself?” Wist quipped.

“Hmph,” Trixie harrumphed. “Trixie doesn’t have to take this from the loser. Trixie will be going now.”

“Alright, alright,” Wist rolled her eyes. “How about we just forget about that for now. Why not tell me what happened after my tie with your Princess.”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” Trixie mumbled and then raised her voice. “Well, after your little prank at our school, Starlight called in the staff and guards to hide you and Twilight away from the public to avoid causing any panic. Though Trixie believes that was inevitable since you turned Smolder to a ferocious succubus for Ocellus.”

“Was it that bad?” Wist wondered. “I didn’t even give her a lot.”

“You shouldn’t have given her a gram of that stuff,” Trixie leered at Wist. “Trixie will have you know that Smolder burned the halls of the school while Starlight and Trixie were trying to separate her from Ocellus. Starlight had no magic to calm her down, so we were forced to use a containment spell on her until some creature brought the depressants."

"A containment spell similar to this I imagine," Wist tapped upon the barrier.

"Oh no," Trixie shook her head. "What you're in is more special. That table you're standing on is the cutie map that’s able to locate all sorts of friendship problems in the lands. It also happens to have an abundance of magic inside of it."

"And right now, its magic is being used to keep me in place," Wist concluded. "Right?"

"That, along with that suppressant ring on your horn."

"What?" Wist felt her horn and touched upon a strangely cold object. Using the reflection of the cutie map, Wist saw a light blue ring strapped to her horn. Wist quickly tried to pull the ring off of her, but then she shuddered to a stop when the ring released a small jolt of lightning that stung the changeling.

"Trixie would advise not to touch it," Trixie recommended. “We added safety measures to make sure you don’t lose it.”

"And you tell me that now!" Wist growled. "Get it off of me!"

"Trixie will do no such thing. That decision goes to Starlight and the Princess when she finally gets off her lazy plot."

"She's still unconscious? See, that totally means I won!"

"You shouldn't be so desperate for validation. It's not a good look for a Changeling Queen."

"I'm a witch!" Wist loudly corrected the mare.

“Fine, fine,” Trixie groaned. “If it’ll stop your whining, then you won. Trixie is so proud of you. Now if you don’t mind, Trixie has other matters to attend to.”

Trixie walked off to the exit again, goading the changeling to bang upon the barrier that held her. “Wait! You’re just going to leave me here?”

“You’ve been there for the last three days,” Trixie answered as she held a hoof upon the door. “Don’t feel so down, once I tell others that you’re up and about, I’m sure there will be another changeling that would be ecstatic to keep you company.”

At that, Trixie closed the door, leaving Wist alone with her steaming soup. Wist kept her eyes upon that door for a long while before groaning and staring down at the bowl. The changeling lowered her head down to it and gave the soup a lick. “Taste like apples…”

Wist continued feasting upon the soup, satiating the sudden hunger that suddenly surged within her. The liquid was soaked with a strong essence of love as if some creature put in an excessive amount of passion into making this food for her. Who would have so much love for a measly apple? Eh, who cares. Wist needed to take in all the love she can get. However, it would have felt a lot better if she did have to do it inside yet another prison.

* * *

Wist was dreadfully bored while waiting for any creature to appear through the door. The least Wist would have expected these Equestrians to do was provide their prisoner with something to keep them entertained. They are supposed to be creatures that show kindness to others, even to the mischievous, right?

Wist grew tired of spinning the bowl about as she found no way to slip through this barrier that they contained her in. Without her magic, the best option she had was forcing her way out, but there’s no way she could believe she could shatter the table made of crystal. She would only crack her hooves in the process.

Thankfully, her ears perked at the door finally opening again. The creature that emerged was the blue changeling that she recalled placing a sleeping spell upon. “Oh,” Wist was dissatisfied. “It’s you.”

“I know that you want to see Starlight,” Ocellus stated as she stepped before Wist. “But with the Princess out of it, you have placed her under more responsibilities that she would like.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Ocellus emphasized. “That Starlight is temporarily the Princess until the real one is awake. Luckily, she has Ambassador Spike for guidance.”

“Hey,” Wist started. “I’m sensing some frustration in you. You don’t happen to have something against me, do you?”

“You mean besides placing the Princess unconscious and causing hysteria at the school?” Ocellus growled. “I wonder what it could be.”

“...It’s the dragon, isn’t it?”

“Her name is Smolder,” Ocellus corrected. “And what you had her do to me has become another talk of the school. Do you know how embarrassing it was for me to have so many of my students see me in such a compromising position!?”

“You Equestrians sure are strange,” Wist tapped her chin. “The Devil’s Dust is supposed to make creatures go wild in joy with a hysterical amount of added magic. Those other behaviors are normally not supposed to happen. And yet they’ve been pretty frequent with you all.”

“Who cares about that!?” Ocellus raised her voice. “You made me and Smolder look like sexual deviants in front of our friends and students. I don’t know if I’ll ever be looked the same way again.”

“To be fair, I only gave her a small push,” Wist argued. “Her reaction only shows that she had a lot of repressed urges. I would argue that it was a bit therapeutic for her.”

Wist’s excuse only earned herself a glare from Ocellus. “Okay, okay,” Wist raised her hooves. “I can clearly see that you’re upset. So maybe drugging your friend wasn’t all that great of an idea.”

“You’ve only realized that now?” Ocellus leered at the changeling.

“I’m sorry, okay!” Wist voiced. “Is that what you want to hear!?”

“...It’s a start,” Ocellus sighed. “At least you’re not one to think you’re always in the right.”

“So,” Wist started. “Any ideas of what you and your friends have planned for me?”

“That’s not up to me,” Ocellus stated. “That decision belongs to—”

“The Princess,” Wist finished. “Yeah, yeah, I heard that same spiel from another creature. Could you at least list me the possibilities here?”

Ocellus placed her hoof upon the barrier, matching them to the opposite side where Wist had hers. “Wist, I promise you that you can trust Princess Twilight. Despite the things you’ve done already, it can still be forgiven. Her judgment will be fair and I’m certain you will see that way as well.”

“Because of friendship, right?”

“And because she wants to help you,” Ocellus added. “You know, all of this could have been avoided if you just asked for help?”

“You expect me to trust creatures I’ve never met before. Yeah, cause that worked so well for me in the past.” Wist sarcastically said.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Wist averted her gaze from Ocellus then walked and lay on the opposite end of the table. “No.”

“Would like something else to eat?” Ocellus asked after noting the empty bowl.

“I could go for a refill. Whoever made that soup soaked it with a lot of love.”

“I’m not surprised,” Ocellus chuckled as she shot her magic into the barrier, creating a pink clear-cut portal for the changeling to stretch her hooves into to grab the bowl. “Applejack takes great pride in her apples.”

“Who’s that?”

“I’m sure you’ll meet her soon enough. Right now, I’ll go see if she’s still around in the castle. We can talk more when I come back.”

And again, Wist was left in her lonesome. It was a bit surreal to see her jailers be so kind to her. These creatures were far unlike the ones she dealt with back in Abyssinia. Of all of the kittens she dealt with in that land, there was only one among them she found trustworthy. “I wonder if he’s mad at me too.”

* * *

Young Wist hid underneath the floorboard of her destroyed home when she felt the presence of a creature. Nights have grown to be an ever-growing nightmare for the small changeling the longer she went without her mother’s presence. 

Wist couldn’t see it without the aid of moonbeams, but she was certain it was there. Peeking above the floorboard, she could tell that the misty creature was there.

It gazed at her. It watched her. It observed her. And then Wist heard it walk towards her. How far was it from her? Its hoofsteps sounded so soft that it seemed to be far away from her. Wist listened closely and hoped for the sound to go away. But then she heard a creak upon the floorboard.

...It’s here, standing before her. It gazed at her as she gazed back. No words were spoken. No light was given. Only the pitch darkness to conceal the horror that Wist envisioned standing before her. 

It touched her forehead. It felt warm and inviting. Something about this felt so familiar to her. Something she felt a long time ago.

“Mom?”

* * *

Wist’s eyes opened again to the annoying rays of the sun. She shielded her eyes with a hoof and let out a sigh. She didn’t know whether to be angered and relieved to be awakened from that dream. Somehow it all felt so real.

“Sorry,” Wist’s ears perked at a voice. “Did I wake you?”

Wist raised her head to find the source of this voice and discovered the mare she’s been searching for was sitting beside her. Settled atop the cutie map at Wist’s side, Starlight Glimmer peered at the surprised changeling.

“You…” Was all that Wist could voice out.

“I’m glad to see that you’re awake,” Starlight said as she began to stroke down Wist’s mane. “That hex spell you cast turned out to be really strong. Twilight was right when she said it would take a few days for the two of you to wake.”

“The Princess...is she still asleep?”

“She’s actually been awake for a few minutes now. We’ve been watching over her at this castle as well.”

“She’s been here this whole time?”

“She’ll be coming here soon enough,” Starlight informed. “You can imagine that she may have a lot to discuss with you. But let’s not worry about that right now. I would like a chance to talk with you before any of that.”

“Why are you petting me?” Wist asked.

“Oh,” Starlight pulled her hoof away. “Sorry about that. When I came in, you looked like you were having a nightmare. At first, I was going to wake you out of it, but then you seemed to calm down when I touched you. So, I figured if I kept petting you, your dream would be more pleasant.”

“Oh...okay.”

“This may be random, but Wisteria, could you tell me about your home?” Starlight asked. “I’m curious about where you came from.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Wist averted her gaze from Starlight and lowered her head back upon the cutie map. The surface was strangely warm despite being made of pure crystals.

“I guess that's a touchy subject for you,” Starlight assumed. “Then how about we talk about something else. Like, say, your passions and goals.”

“Why should I tell you?” Wist raised her eyes upon the mare. “I’m certain that you’re just going to share this all with your Princess. And besides, every creature I tell always says I’m wrong for it.”

“Then I’ll be the first to not judge you,” Starlight laid a hoof on the back of Wist’s head. “Listen Wist, I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me anything. My outlook on you won’t change regardless of what you tell me...I think.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.” Starlight nodded.

Wist turned her face from Starlight, but eventually came back upon her and spoke.“...I want to be a witch. For as long as I can remember, my mom was one. She was ambitious and worked hard to be one of the best. So, I want to be just like her.”

“Twilight mentioned that to me before," Starlight said. "But tell me, what do you think it means to be a witch?”

“They’re smart,” Wist answered. “They’re cunning, ambitious, and work hard to unravel the mysteries of magic. Those that creatures are too afraid to explore themselves.”

“And what would you use that knowledge for,” Starlight asked, giving the changeling a careful glance.

“Nothing,” Wist blatantly answered.

“Really?" Starlight was taken aback by Wist's answer. "You wouldn’t make use of magic that no other creature has come to comprehend? I mean, even I would be tempted by the possibilities.”

“I just want to broaden my knowledge of all magic in the world just like my mother did." Starlight noticed a gloom in Wist's face. "But so far, I lack the basics. I can't even do a levitation spell and that's supposed to be one of the first things a foal should learn. But, I’m going to change that. I'll do everything I can to become an all-knowing witch, bewitching, and full of wisdom beyond that of the greatest wizard.”

“That’s a very admirable goal,” Starlight complimented. “It would be nice if all witches shared that mindset.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m guessing your mother is the only witch you’ve known. Well then, I think you should know that you and your mother do not share the same sentiment as most witches do. They seek knowledge that is usually lost and forbidden, but their purpose happens to be selfish and place others in a lot of harm.”

“That's not what I've heard. Most of what creatures told me that we are disliked for delving to secrets that they believe are best hidden. In what way do they harm others?”

“Forcing ideals on others, manipulation, liberation, those sorts of harm. And sadly, they are fairly common in Equestria. There are even rumors of a sisterhood that gather these witches together. Who knows what they have planned if they're not stopped.”

“What does that have to do with me? I’m nothing like that. I just want knowledge, that’s all.”

“I know, but the title of witches is not well-liked by the public. So, I wouldn’t recommend telling others about it.”

“What are you going to do with me?”

“That decision goes to Princess Twilight,” Starlight raised to her hooves. “But I think this talk has given me an idea of what I should tell her.”

Wist watched Starlight shoot through the barrier and hop off the table. Seeing this mare close-up made her anxious if she really was what Wist hoped her to be. There aren’t any similarities she could point out. Just this prevailing feeling that feels nostalgic.

“I forgot to ask this,” Starlight spoke. “But before you fell asleep, you called me your mother. Do I have some sort of resemblance to her?”

“I…” Wist couldn’t find the right words to respond with. Her face heated as she found embarrassment.

“It’s fine,” Starlight smiled. “We can talk later about it if you like. I think now is a good time to bring the Princess.”

* * *

Wist glared at Princess Twilight carefully as Alicorn Princess was welcomed inside the chamber by Starlight and her associates. Twilight stepped before Wist and then nodded to Starlight. 

Wist was surprised when the Headmare struck a beam upon the barrier, as it appeared to have dissipated within the purple glow. 

Wist stepped back from the Princess and furrowed her brow. “What’s your angle here?”

“Nothing,” Twilight calmly answered. “I just prefer it that you have more freedom before we speak.” The Princess smiled and placed a hoof on the table. “I think both of us have slept in long enough.”

Wist jumped off the cutie map on the opposite end from Twilight and glared at the creatures around her. Behind the Princess stood Ocellus, Starlight, Trixie, and an orange stallion she doesn't recall meeting. The illeist mare took cover behind Starlight.

“I can understand your wariness," Twilight said. "I wouldn't expect it to be easy to trust creatures you’re not familiar with. But I would like it if you gave us a chance.”

“What? So is this a part of your Princess decorum to bring me into your side of friendship?”

“Please don’t think of it that way,” Twilight frowned. “I can assure you that no creature will force you into friendship. It wouldn’t even be called that if that was the case.”

“Whatever,” Wist hissed. “So, what now?”

“How about we change the topic.” Twilight suggested. "I can tell that you're new to these lands with how little you know about us. I would like to know why you chose to come to Equestria."

“I already told you that I came here to find home.”

“Yes, but I would like to know what this home exactly is.”

“It’s exactly what I said,” Wist said matter-of-factly.

“Wist," There was a slight crack in Twilight's soft demeanor before recovering. "I want you to describe this home you speak of. Where is it exactly? Or I should say, who is it?”

Wist was perturbed by Twilight's statement and had begun looking around for a way to escape the situation. Her eyes met with Starlight's, who smiled and nodded to the changeling. Wist paused at the Headmare's action. After a small grumble to herself, she faced the Princess again.

“There’s...two," Wist mumbled, but loud enough for the Princess to perk at. "One of them led me here. There's a familiar scent here that I remember. I remembered it to be calming, warm…" Her sight trailed to the open window that appeared to far too escape through. It's pretty pointless to try anything given that she has nothing under her sleeves to use. "And then," Wist continued with a sigh. "There’s another that I know very well. I want to go back to it, but I don't know where it is anymore.”

“I see,” Twilight nodded her head. “I’m sorry to hear that you were separated from them. But, I think I can help you, if you like?”

“Help me?” Wist narrowed her eyes at the Princess.

“As Princess, I have many connections and eyes I can place across the lands. You would have a better likelihood to discover the whereabouts of your home with the survey of my fleet.”

“And you plan to want to be rewarded with something from me in exchange, do you?”

“I heard that you lack basic knowledge of magic. I can assume that you did not receive basic schooling, right?”

“I was tutored.”

“Then how about an opportunity to fill in the gaps." Twilight walked around the cutie map to meet the Princess. Wist was a bit surprised how tall the Princess was up close. "While I have my resources search for the whereabouts of your home, I would like for you to attend the School of Friendship.”

“...You want me to learn about friendship?” Wist gazed at the Princess with skepticism.

“Why not give it a chance? You might turn out to like it. I mean, there will also be classes that will teach you about magic and many other facets that may peak your interest, but it couldn't hurt to try it out, wouldn't it?”

“This sounds like a win-win situation for me," Wist was puzzled. "Are all Princesses terrible at bartering?"

“That's because it isn't," Starlight stepped before the cutie map. “If you let us, we want to teach you all the things that you missed out on. And, I would really like it if the two of us have more to talk with each other. It may be some time before we can find either of your homes. But, in the meantime, you could see Ponyville as your third.”

“I don't know about that,” Wist said. "But, if you're really offering free lessons, then I guess I can entertain this. But," Wist fiercely glared at the Princess. "Let's get something clear here. I'll only play nicely as long as you keep me in the loop of your findings. If I feel you're not doing your end of the bargain, then I'll take the matter into my own hooves."

"Ugh," Trixie groaned from behind Starlight. "That snooty behavior of hers reminds her of another Changeling Queen I don't like."

"That better not be that attitude you're going to take with her," Starlight said. "I intend for the two of you to get quite acquainted with each other on the weekly."

"What!?" Trixie backed appalled. "You would lock Trixie with this fiend! Why would Trixie ever agree to such a reckless idea!?"

"Because it's your job," the orange stallion answered.

"Nopony asked you, Sunburst," Trixie retorted.

“Then we are at an agreement,” Twilight said. “From henceforth, Wisteria will be a student of the School of Friendship. I believe Starlight has already made the arrangements to assign Ocellus as your homeroom teacher. I hear that the two of you have already been familiarized with each other. The only pressing matter now is your living arrangement.”

“Don’t worry about that, Twilight,” Starlight said. “I already know just the perfect place for Wist.”

* * *

Luster laid on her bed one night, contemplating the event from her first day of school. She had never anticipated the number of class subjects to be so vast, an unexpected benefit that Luster fully intended to take full advantage of.

However, her mind drew to that Wist character that started an incident some days ago. The pandemonium she caused floored the scholarly mare. Headmare Starlight informed the students that they had nothing else to fear after they remedied the crazed dragoness that was her P.E. coach. She's actually been rather touchy about the event. And by touchy, Luster meant prone to threatening responses.

But now importantly, that changeling appeared to know a lot about potion making and also appeared to be strong with magic if she was able to give the Princess so much trouble. Thank Twilight that she’s no longer on the prowl anymore. 

Although, there was a semblance in Luster's desire that wished she could have more time with her. Luster never met a creature that she had an affinity for so quickly. It was like she had a kinship with her. Though now her perspective is quite different knowing that the changeling is a deviant. Still though...

Luster’s thoughts sputtered to a close when she heard a knock from her door. How strange; Luster did not expect any visitors. Perhaps it’s one of her new friends coming to greet her. “Coming,” Luster announced.

Before Luster opened the door, she glanced upon a mirror propped atop her drawer to make sure her mane was fixed. When she answered, she stood astonished when she saw Headmare Starlight and the changeling that started an incident at school standing before her. “Headmare Starlight!? Wait, what is she doing here?”

“Good evening, Luster,” Starlight spoke normally as if there was nothing abnormal about this situation. “I trust that your classes went swimmingly today, right?”

“Yes,” Luster stuttered. “They did. But, why is the changeling that endangered the school standing beside you? I thought you took care of her.”

“And I did,” Starlight nodded. “I have come to a decision that I think will work out for both of you.”

“I don’t follow,” Luster frowned.

“I’ve noticed that you have made efforts in the last few days to invite a fellow classmate to become your roommate. By the looks of things, I can see that it’s proving rather difficult.”

“Well, yes,” Luster admitted. “Pitching other students to leave their roommate has so far proven to be an impossible task. It seems like they’ve all become the best of friends...wait,” Luster gawked at the Headmare. “You’re not about to do what I think you’re about to do, are you?”

“If you mean having Wisteria here become your roommate and classmate at the school, then yes.” Starlight smiled at the dumbfounded mare.

“What!?” Luster fell on her haunch. “You’re going to leave me with this lunatic!?”

“Oh,” Wist entered the room. “I remember you now. You’re the one I made mane potions with. Did you manage to finish it while I was gone? I’d really like to have a few since I’m apparently not allowed to have my old things.” Wist eyed at Starlight.

“You’ll get them back in time,” Starlight assured. “Minus Devil’s Dust. Those go with the Princess.”

“Why is she, my roommate?” Luster demanded. “As I recall, she assaulted the Princess!”

“Your Princess decreed me as a student of this place,” Wist approached Luster and poked her snout. Luster swiftly rubbed her nose. “Whether you like it or not, we’re stuck together. So, I suggest getting comfortable with the idea.”

“Why did you poke me like that?” Luster growled at the changeling. “I don’t know where your hooves have been. You probably still have residues of that drug on you.”

“Now that’s an intriguing thought,” Wist grinned at the concerned mare. “I wonder how a goody two-hooves like you would react to it.”

“Don’t worry, Luster” Starlight assured. “Wist was fully disinfected and cleaned days ago. I made sure of that.”

“What?” Wist now gawked at the Headmare. “You washed me while I was unconscious?”

“No creature was willing to step in,” Starlight argued. “We couldn’t leave your hygienes unattended. No, stop looking at me like that,” Starlight pointed at the two students. “It’s not weird.”

“Did you wash the Princess too?” Wist asked. “How did can you manage with how big—”

“Moving on,” Starlight raised her voice. “I will leave the two of you to discuss the arrangement of the room. Think of it as a start to a new friendship.”

“Are you sure about this, Headmare Starlight,” Luster asked.

“Oh I’m sure,” Starlight assured. “You two have a lot in common. I’m certain the two you will get along...eventually.” Starlight then clapped her hooves before Luster could respond. “Well then, I should probably head back to my office and get Wist’s things. I think we should go out for dinner after. Two bowls of soup aren’t going to be enough to satisfy a growing body.”

Starlight closed the door before the two students, leaving Luster with the gleeful changeling that immediately surveyed around the area. “What are you doing?” Luster asked the traversing changeling.

“Checking out my place,” Wist said matter-of-factly. “I thought that’d be obvious.”

“Don’t you mean our place,” Luster corrected. “And if I’m going to be living with you, we should set some ground rules.”

“Now what’s this,” Wist pulled out a book plastered with bunches of heart stickers from Luster’s drawer.

Luster’s face immediately reddened as she rushed upon the changeling to grab upon the book. “Hey, that’s my diary, give it back!”

Wist dangled the book above the embarrassed mare as she chuckled, “A diary, eh? You must have it filled with juicy secrets then, don’t you? A goody two-hooves like you have to have something in your closet.”

Their rowdy voices vibrated through the halls of the dorm as their poor classmates endured the two's frantic act, fearful of confronting the changeling that they heard rivaled against the Princess of Friendship. This moment would mark the day to a new friendship full of chaos and neverending shocks to Luster’s now fleeting peaceful studies.


End file.
